Hermann Thomas
Degussa AG, Feed Additives, Research and Development Biotechnology, Kantstr. 2, 33790 Halle/Westf., Germany.
J Biotechnol. 2003 Sep 4;104(1-3):155-72. doi: 10.1016/s0168-1656(03)00149-4.
In the 1950s Corynebacterium glutamicum was found to be a very efficient producer of L-glutamic acid. Since this time biotechnological processes with bacteria of the species Corynebacterium developed to be among the most important in terms of tonnage and economical value. L-Glutamic acid and L-lysine are bulk products nowadays. L-Valine, L-isoleucine, L-threonine, L-aspartic acid and L-alanine are among other amino acids produced by Corynebacteria. Applications range from feed to food and pharmaceutical products. The growing market for amino acids produced with Corynebacteria led to significant improvements in bioprocess and downstream technology as well as in molecular biology. During the last decade big efforts were made to increase the productivity and to decrease the production costs. This review gives an overview of the world market for amino acids produced by Corynebacteria. Significant improvements in bioprocess technology, i.e. repeated fed batch or continuous production are summarised. Bioprocess technology itself was improved furthermore by application of more sophisticated feeding and automatisation strategies. Even though several amino acids developed towards commodities in the last decade, side aspects of the production process like sterility or detection of contaminants still have increasing relevance. Finally one focus of this review is on recent developments in downstream technology.
20世纪50年代，人们发现谷氨酸棒杆菌是L-谷氨酸的高效生产者。从那时起，利用谷氨酸棒杆菌属细菌的生物技术过程在产量和经济价值方面发展成为最重要的生物技术过程之一。如今，L-谷氨酸和L-赖氨酸是大宗产品。L-缬氨酸、L-异亮氨酸、L-苏氨酸、L-天冬氨酸和L-丙氨酸是由棒杆菌属产生的其他氨基酸。其应用范围涵盖饲料、食品和药品。棒杆菌属生产氨基酸的市场不断增长，促使生物工艺、下游技术以及分子生物学取得了显著进步。在过去十年中，人们付出了巨大努力来提高生产率并降低生产成本。本综述概述了棒杆菌属生产氨基酸的世界市场。总结了生物工艺技术的重大改进，即重复补料分批培养或连续生产。通过应用更复杂的补料和自动化策略，生物工艺技术本身得到了进一步改进。尽管在过去十年中几种氨基酸已发展成为大宗商品，但生产过程中的一些次要方面，如无菌或污染物检测，仍然具有越来越重要的意义。最后，本综述的一个重点是下游技术的最新进展。
