Production of cholera toxin subunit B by a mutant strain of Vibrio cholerae.

The B subunit (CTB) of cholera toxin (CT) can be used as a carrier protein for conjugate vaccines designed to elicit antipolysaccharide antibodies. A defined medium, AGM4, was designed to grow a high-producing mutant of Vibrio cholerae expressing only the B subunit of CT: V. cholerae 0395-NI. AGM4 contains four amino acids, asparagine, glutamic acid, arginine and serine, salts and a trace element solution. The carbon source is glucose. The fermentations performed in AGM4 indicated that CTB production paralleled the growth of the organism but that there was a maximal release of CTB during the stationary phase. There was a clear optimum of productivity at pH 8.0 and 30 degrees C. The pH had an influence on CTB production and not only on its release. Analysis of the amino acids present in the medium showed a correlation between their consumption rates and CTB productivity.