Use of an exchange filtration technique to obtain synchronous sporulation in an extended batch fermentation

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Abstract
A fermentor system with an external filtration loop has been developed to control the growth and sporulation of yeast in a single vessel. Excess growth medium, instead of being removed by centrifugation, is removed by filtration and replaced with acetate sporulation medium. The technique did give 80% sporulation after 20 hr, greatly improving the rate and degree of synchrony of sporulation and it also eliminated the contamination hazard of the conventional harvest technique, centrifugation, and resuspension of vegetative cells in sporulation medium. Furthermore it permits proper control of the environmental conditions throughout the growth, exchange, and sporulation phase. In this technique 100% recycle of biomass is achieved without any packing of the cells on the filter. This technique has wide application in the study of industrial fermentation that involves microbial differentiation such as the production of ergot alkaloids, bacitracin, and cephalosporin.