Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Vol.99, No.4, 870-875, 2008
Fed-batch cultivation of the marine bacterium Sulfitobacter pontiacus using immobilized substrate and purification of sulfite oxidase by application of membrane adsorber technology
Sulfitobacter pontiacus, a gram-negative heterotrophic bacterium isolated from the Black Sea is well known to produce a soluble AMP-independent sulfite oxidase (sulfite: acceptor oxidoreductase) of high activity. Such an enzyme can be of great help in establishing biosensor systems for detection of sulfite in food and beverages considering the high sensitivity of biosensors and the increasing demand for such biosensor devices. For obtaining efficient amounts of the enzyme, an induction of its biosynthesis by supplementing sufficient concentrations of sodium sulfite to the fermentation broth is required. Owing to the fact that a high initial concentration of sodium sulfite decreases dramatically the enzyme expression, different fed-batch strategies can be applied to circumvent such inhibition or repression of the enzyme respectively. By the use of sulfite species immobilized in polyvinyl alcohol gels, an approach to the controlled and continuous feeding of sulfite to the cultivation media could be established to diminish inhibitory concentrations. Furthermore, the purification of the enzyme is described by using membrane adsorber technology.
Keywords:sulfite oxidase;immobilized substrate;fed-batch;optimization;cultivation performance;membrane adsorber