High Cell Density Fed-batch Cultures Research Articles

Dynamic flux balance analysis of high cell density fed-batch culture of Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) with mass spectrometry-based spent media analysis.

Dynamic flux balance analysis (FBA) allows estimation of intracellular reaction rates using organism-specific genome-scale metabolic models (GSMM) and by assuming instantaneous pseudo-steady states for processes that are inherently dynamic. This technique is well-suited for industrial bioprocesses employing complex media characterized by a hierarchy of substrate uptake and product secretion. However, knowledge of exchange rates of many components of the media would be required to obtain meaningful results. Here, we performed spent media analysis using mass spectrometry coupled with liquid and gas chromatography for a fed-batch, high-cell density cultivation of Escherichia coli BL21(DE3) expressing a recombinant protein. Time course measurements thus obtained for 246 metabolites were converted to instantaneous exchange rates. These were then used as constraints for dynamic FBA using a previously reported GSMM, thus providing insights into how the flux map evolves through the process. Changes in tri-carboxylic acid cycle fluxes correlated with the increased demand for energy during recombinant protein production. The results show how amino acids act as hubs for the synthesis of other cellular metabolites. Our results provide a deeper understanding of an industrial bioprocess and will have implications in further optimizing the process.

Fractional adaptive observer for variable structure high cell density fed-batch cultures

This paper presents the design and application of a fractional order asymptotic adaptive observer coupled to an adaptive controller for the robust operation of high-cell density cultures in fed-batch mode. The control goal is to maximize biomass productivity by controlling the culture’s estimated specific growth rate. Since the specific growth rate cannot be measured, a fractional order asymptotic adaptive observer is proposed, based on the equivalent integer order asymptotic observer proposed before. Simulations are performed to validate the observer and controller, under the assumption that the system is in the oxidative regime under aerobic conditions. Obtained results show that, in close loop operation, the fractional adaptive observer behaves better than the integer order observer in the presence of measurement noise. For fractional orders of the observer in the range α G [0.6,0.8], it was observed a 51.71% increase in biomass concentration, compared to the biomass obtained with the classic integer-order observer. Furthermore, the controlled system reaches very low ethanol concentrations (< 1 grams per liter), which is desirable in this process.

Enhanced production of nicotinamide mononucleotide by high cell density culture of engineered Escherichia coli

Nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN), an intermediate product of NAD+ biosynthesis, is commonly found intracellularly in living species. Recently, NMN has attracted great interest for the treatment of different diseases. Here, we developed a high cell density fed-batch culture system to produce NMN at higher concentrations using an engineered E. coil strain. Fed-batch culture using linear feeding strategy exhibited 9.38 ± 0.8, 14.8 ± 0.56, and 5.04 ± 0.21 g/L NMN concentrations, and 59.5 ± 0.44, 68.8 ± 0.49, and 36.2 ± 0.32 g/L dry cell weights, using different concentrations of nicotinamide (NAM) of 3, 5, and 10 g/L, respectively. A maximum NMN concentration of 17.2 ± 1.3 g/L with a productivity of 0.956 g/L/h was achieved using two intermittent additions of 5 g/L NAM after 6 h and 17 h. NMN obtained from the fermentation broth was purified using size exclusion chromatography, generating a yield of 53.9 % NMN. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and 1H nuclear magnetic resonance analysis was additionally used to validate the purity of NMN after purification. The fed-batch fermentation process applied in this study, using cheaper feed-stocks, demonstrated a remarkable enhancement in the production of therapeutically important NMN, making this a promising strategy for industrial-scale production of NMN.

Implementation of a high cell density fed-batch for heterologous production of active [NiFe]-hydrogenase in Escherichia coli bioreactor cultivations

BackgroundO2-tolerant [NiFe]-hydrogenases offer tremendous potential for applications in H2-based technology. As these metalloenzymes undergo a complicated maturation process that requires a dedicated set of multiple accessory proteins, their heterologous production is challenging, thus hindering their fundamental understanding and the development of related applications. Taking these challenges into account, we selected the comparably simple regulatory [NiFe]-hydrogenase (RH) from Cupriavidus necator as a model for the development of bioprocesses for heterologous [NiFe]-hydrogenase production. We already reported recently on the high-yield production of catalytically active RH in Escherichia coli by optimizing the culture conditions in shake flasks.ResultsIn this study, we further increase the RH yield and ensure consistent product quality by a rationally designed high cell density fed-batch cultivation process. Overall, the bioreactor cultivations resulted in ˃130 mg L−1 of catalytically active RH which is a more than 100-fold increase compared to other RH laboratory bioreactor scale processes with C. necator. Furthermore, the process shows high reproducibility of the previously selected optimized conditions and high productivity.ConclusionsThis work provides a good opportunity to readily supply such difficult-to-express complex metalloproteins economically and at high concentrations to meet the demand in basic and applied studies.

Automated Bioprocess Feedback Operation in a High-Throughput Facility via the Integration of a Mobile Robotic Lab Assistant

The development of biotechnological processes is challenging due to the diversity of process parameters. For efficient upstream development, parallel cultivation systems have proven to reduce costs and associated timelines successfully while offering excellent process control. However, the degree of automation of such small-scale systems is comparatively low, and necessary sample analysis requires manual steps. Although the subsequent analysis can be performed in a high-throughput manner, the integration of analytical devices remains challenging, especially when cultivation and analysis laboratories are spatially separated. Mobile robots offer a potential solution, but their implementation in research laboratories is not widely adopted. Our approach demonstrates the integration of a small-scale cultivation system into a liquid handling station for an automated cultivation and sample procedure. The samples are transported via a mobile robotic lab assistant and subsequently analyzed by a high-throughput analyzer. The process data are stored in a centralized database. The mobile robotic workflow guarantees a flexible solution for device integration and facilitates automation. Restrictions regarding spatial separation of devices are circumvented, enabling a modular platform throughout different laboratories. The presented cultivation platform is evaluated on the basis of industrially relevant E. coli BW25113 high cell density fed-batch cultivation. The necessary magnesium addition for reaching high cell densities in mineral salt medium is automated via a feedback operation loop between the analysis station located in the adjacent room and the cultivation system. The modular design demonstrates new opportunities for advanced control options and the suitability of the platform for accelerating bioprocess development. This study lays the foundation for a fully integrated facility, where the physical connection of laboratory equipment is achieved through the successful use of a mobile robotic lab assistant, and different cultivation scales can be coupled through the common data infrastructure.

Development of High Cell Density Cultivation Strategies for Improved Medium Chain Length Polyhydroxyalkanoate Productivity Using Pseudomonas putida LS46.

High cell density (HCD) fed-batch cultures are widely perceived as a requisite for high-productivity polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) cultivation processes. In this work, a reactive pulse feed strategy (based on real-time CO2 or dissolved oxygen (DO) measurements as feedback variables) was used to control an oxygen-limited fed-batch process for improved productivity of medium chain length (mcl-) PHAs synthesized by Pseudomonas putida LS46. Despite the onset of oxygen limitation half-way through the process (14 h post inoculation), 28.8 ± 3.9 g L−1 total biomass (with PHA content up to 61 ± 8% cell dry mass) was reliably achieved within 27 h using octanoic acid as the carbon source in a bench-scale (7 L) bioreactor operated under atmospheric conditions. This resulted in a final volumetric productivity of 0.66 ± 0.14 g L−1 h−1. Delivering carbon to the bioreactor as a continuous drip feed process (a proactive feeding strategy compared to pulse feeding) made little difference on the final volumetric productivity of 0.60 ± 0.04 g L−1 h−1. However, the drip feed strategy favored production of non-PHA residual biomass during the growth phase, while pulse feeding favored a higher rate of mcl-PHA synthesis and yield during the storage phase. Overall, it was shown that the inherent O2-limitation brought about by HCD cultures can be used as a simple and effective control strategy for mcl-PHA synthesis from fatty acids. Furthermore, the pulse feed strategy appears to be a relatively easy and reliable method for rapid optimization of fed-batch processes, particularly when using toxic substrates like octanoic acid.

A novel strategy and kinetics analysis of half-fractional high cell density fed-batch cultivation of Zygosaccharomyces rouxii.

Zygosaccharomyces rouxii is an important microorganism for aroma production in traditional fermented foods. Using Z. rouxii as the original strain, the batch was split after glucose depletion in the culture medium. Half of the volume of the culture medium was released, and fresh culture medium was fed in. The exponential culture kinetics and the formula for the half‐fractional fed‐batch cultivations were determined to achieve a new strategy for high cell density culturing of Z. rouxii. Based on a full cultivation, three half‐fractional fed‐batch cultivations were performed after every 10 hr of culture. The specific growth rates of Z. rouxii at the different stages were in the order μX0>μX1>μX2>μX3 (0.525 to 0.229 hr−1). The glucose substrate consumption rates gradually decreased following the order μS0>μS1>μS2>μS3 (−1.165 to −0.722, g/g). The equation models for cell growth and glucose substrate consumption showed typical exponential behavior. The total cell yield was 1.78‐fold higher than the yield from a full cultivation, and this continuous subculture strategy also indicated a higher efficiency than traditional full cultivation. A new strategy for highly efficient culturing of Z. rouxii was achieved in a pilot scale. A foundation with data support for the production and application of Z. rouxii was developed.

Temperature gradient-based high-cell density fed-batch fermentation for the production of pyruvate oxidase by recombinant E. coli

ABSTRACTPyruvate oxidase (PyOD) is a very powerful enzyme for clinical diagnostic applications and environmental monitoring. Influences of temperature on cell growth, plasmid stability, and PyOD expression during the PyOD fermentation process by recombinant Escherichia coli were investigated. Based on the influences of temperature on the physiological metabolism, a novel high-cell density fed-batch cultivation with gradient temperature decrease strategy for effective PyOD production was achieved, under which the biomass (OD600) of recombinant E. coli could reach to 71 and the highest PyOD activity in broth could reach to 3,307 U/L in 26 hr fermentation.

Heterologous expression of codon optimized Trichoderma reesei Cel6A in Pichia pastoris.

The Cel6A deficiency has become one of the limiting factors for cellulose saccharification in biochemical conversion of cellulosic biomass to fuels and chemicals. The work attempted to use codon optimization to enhance Trichoderma reesei Cel6A expression in Pichia pastoris. Two recombinants P. pastoris GS115 containing AOX1 and GAP promotors were successfully constructed, respectively. The optimal temperatures and pHs of the expressed Cel6A from two recombinants were consistent with each other, were also in the extremely similar range to that reported on the native Cel6A from T. reesei. Based on the shake flask fermentation, AOX1 promotor enabled the recombinant to produce 265U/L and 300mg/L of the Cel6A enzyme, and the GAP promotor resulted in 145U/L and 200mg/L. High cell density fed batch (HCDFB) fermentation significantly improved the enzyme titer (1100U/L) and protein yield (2.0g/L) for the recombinant with AOX1 promotor. Results have showed that the AOX1 promotor is more suitable than the GAP for the Cel6A expression in P. pastoris. And the HCDFB cultivation is a favorable way to express the Cel6A highly in the methanol inducible yeast.

Enhancement of thermostable β-glucosidase production in a slow methanol utilization strain of Pichia pastoris by optimization of the specific methanol supply rate

Control of the methanol supply during the production stage is a crucial parameter for maintaining cell growth and enhancing recombinant protein production by Pichia pastoris. In this study, optimization of the initial specific methanol supply rate was explored for high cell density fed-batch cultivation of recombinant fungal β- glucosidase in a slow methanol utilization strain (MutS), P. pastoris KM71. By varying the methanol feed rates for initiating the induction at a cell concentration of 60 g/L, the optimum initial specific methanol supply rate was determined to be 30.34 ± 0.34 mg/g·h. A methanol feed rate was proposed according to this optimum parameter and applied for the production of recombinant β-glucosidase at the higher cell concentrations of 80 and 100 g/L. The highest recombinant β-glucosidase activity obtained was 2851.7 ± 14.6 U/mL, which was four times higher than that obtained with the reference condition (40 g/L initial cell concentration). The success of this approach suggests that the strategy of optimizing the initial specific methanol supply rate could be adopted and applied for the production of other recombinant proteins in P. pastoris employing a methanol inducible system.

High cell density cultivation of recombinant Escherichia coli strains expressing 2-O-sulfotransferase and C5-epimerase for the production of bioengineered heparin.

Bioengineered heparin is being investigated as a potential substitute for the animal-sourced anticoagulant drug. One step in the current process to prepare bioengineered heparin involves the conversion of N-sulfo heparosan, rich in → 4)GlcNS(1 → 4) GlcA(1 → sequences (where S is sulfo, GlcN is α-D-glucosamine, and GlcA is β-D-glucuronic acid), to a critical intermediate, rich in → 4)GlcNS(1 → 4) IdoA2S(1 → sequences (where S is sulfo and IdoA is α-L-iduronic acid), using 2-O-sulfotransferase (2-OST) and C5 epimerase (C5-epi). Until now, these heparan sulfate biosynthetic enzymes have been expressed in Escherichia coli grown in shake flask culture as fusion proteins. The current study is focused on the high cell density fed-batch cultivation of recombinant E. coli strains expressing both enzymes. We report the high productivity expression of active 2-OST and C5-epi enzymes of 6.0 and 2.2mg/g dry cell weight, respectively.

Avoiding overfeeding in high cell density fed-batch cultures of E. coli during the production of heterologous proteins

Heterologous protein production often causes a significant metabolic burden in Escherichia coli cells which manifests itself in a substantial decrease in their physiological characteristics such as the maximal specific growth rate on a given substrate, the maximal substrate uptake rate as well as the maximal specific oxygen uptake rate. In high-cell-density cultures, the substrate feed rate must be adapted to this changing capabilities of the cells in order to avoid overfeeding and thus the formation of by-products that inhibit the cell performance further. This requires the precise knowledge about the changes in these specific rates, particularly during the product formation phase.In order to precisely investigate the time profile of the critical specific substrate uptake rate σcrit of microorganisms, i.e. the maximal rate at which the cells can fully oxidize their substrate, a new online tracking technique is presented. The feed rate F is modulated in such a way that the specific substrate uptake rate σ is linearly raised towards its critical value σcrit. When this is reached the feed rate is automatically reduced and the procedure is repeated. In this way the method automatically follows the changing time profile of σcrit during the entire cultivation and avoids significant acetate formation rates. This procedure considerably increases the identifiability of σcrit. The high precision of the technique also results from replacing the pO2 measurements that seem to suggest themselves for monitoring maximal oxygen uptake rate, by measuring the total oxygen consumption rate tOUR, which is available at a much higher signal-to-noise ratio and is not as prone to distortions. An important advantage of measuring tOUR is that it allows keeping pO2 controlled at its optimal value. The applicability of the new tracking technology is demonstrated at E. coli cultures. The resulting σcrit(t) profile allows determining the substrate feed rate profile and other key variables that can be used for advanced feedback control in protein production processes. The technique can be considered a PAT tool and is well suited to industrial fermentations.

Plasmid DNA production with Escherichia coli GALG20, a pgi-gene knockout strain: Fermentation strategies and impact on downstream processing

The market development of plasmid biopharmaceuticals for gene therapy and DNA vaccination applications is critically dependent on the availability of cost-effective manufacturing processes capable of delivering large amounts of high-quality plasmid DNA (pDNA) for clinical trials and commercialization. The producer host strain used in these processes must be designed to meet the upstream and downstream processing challenges characteristic of large scale pDNA production. The goal of the present study was to investigate the effect of different glucose feeding strategies (batch and fed-batch) on the pDNA productivity of GALG20, a pgi Escherichia coli strain potentially useful in industrial fermentations, which uses the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) as the main route for glucose metabolism. The parental strain, MG1655ΔendAΔrecA, and the common laboratory strain, DH5α, were used for comparison purposes and pVAX1GFP, a ColE1-type plasmid, was tested as a model. GALG20 produced 3-fold more pDNA (∼141mg/L) than MG1655ΔendAΔrecA (∼48mg/L) and DH5α (∼40mg/L) in glucose-based fed-batch fermentations. The amount of pDNA in lysates obtained from these cells was also larger for GALG20 (41%) when compared with MG1655ΔendAΔrecA (31%) and DH5α (26%). However, the final quality of pDNA preparations obtained with a process that explores precipitation, hydrophobic interaction chromatography and size exclusion was not significantly affected by strain genotype. Finally, high cell density fed-batch cultures were performed with GALG20, this time using another ColE1-type plasmid, NTC7482-41H-HA, in pre-industrial facilities using glucose and glycerol. These experiments demonstrated the ability of GALG20 to produce high pDNA yields of the order of 2100–2200mg/L.

High-throughput strategies for penicillin G acylase production in rE. colifed-batch cultivations

BackgroundPenicillin G acylase (PGA) is used industrially to catalyze the hydrolysis of penicillin G to obtain 6-aminopenicillanic acid. In Escherichia coli, the most-studied microorganism for PGA production, this enzyme accumulates in the periplasmic cell space, and temperature plays an important role in the correct synthesis of its subunits.ResultsThis work investigates the influence of medium composition, cultivation strategy, and temperature on PGA production by recombinant E. coli cells. Shake flask cultures carried out using induction temperatures ranging from 18 to 28°C revealed that the specific enzyme activity achieved at 20°C (3000 IU gDCW-1) was 6-fold higher than the value obtained at 28°C. Auto-induction and high cell density fed-batch bioreactor cultures were performed using the selected induction temperature, with both defined and complex media, and IPTG and lactose as inducers. Final biomass concentrations of 100 and 120 gDCW L-1, and maximum enzyme productivities of 7800 and 5556 IU L-1 h-1, were achieved for high cell density cultures using complex and defined media, respectively.ConclusionsTo the best of our knowledge, the volumetric enzyme activity and productivity values achieved using the complex medium are the highest ever reported for PGA production using E. coli. Overall PGA recovery yields of 64 and 72% after purification were achieved for crude extracts obtained from cells cultivated in defined and complex media, respectively. The complex medium was the most cost-effective for PGA production, and could be used in both high cell density and straightforward auto-induction protocols.

Candida utilis metabolism and morphology under increased air pressure up to 12 bar

Batch cultures of Candida utilis CBS 621 were carried out in a pressurized reactor under increased air pressure up to 6bar. The effect of total air pressure was also investigated in a high cell density fed-batch culture, raising the total air pressure from 1bar to 12bar. The results showed that the rise of air pressure, for both operation modes, led to a substantial enhancement of biomass production. Moreover, ethanol formation was significantly reduced at 6bar and 12bar air pressure, respectively for batch and fed-batch processes.A method using automatic image analysis for classification of C. utilis cells based on their morphology was developed and applied to experimental data. Morphological parameters such as single and budding cells, cell size and elongation factor, were analyzed to assess the pressure effect on yeast culture. No significant differences were observed in cell size distribution and yeast cells retained the typical oval form, even at 12bar air pressure.In what biological aspects are concerned, it is possible to state that C. utilis CBS 621 can cope with hyperbaric stress, meaning that the use of increased air pressure is a suitable method for oxygenation enhancement of high-density cultures of this strain.

Enhanced production of the nonribosomal peptide antibiotic valinomycin in Escherichia coli through small-scale high cell density fed-batch cultivation

Nonribosomal peptides (NRPs), a large family of natural products, possess numerous pharmaceutically significant bioactivities. However, many native microbial producers of NRPs are not cultivable or have low production yields making mass production infeasible. The recombinant production of natural products in a surrogate host has emerged as a strategy to overcome these limitations. De novo recombinant production of the NRP antibiotic valinomycin in an engineered Escherichia coli host strain was established with the necessary biosynthetic pathway constituents from Streptomyces tsusimaensis. In the present study, the initially modest valinomycin yields could be significantly increased from 0.3 up to 2.4 mg L⁻¹ by switching from a batch to an enzyme-based fed-batch mode in shake flasks. A subsequent design of experiment-driven optimization of parallel fed-batch cultivations in 24-well plates with online monitoring of dissolved oxygen and pH led to valinomycin yields up to 6.4 mg L⁻¹. Finally, repeated glucose polymer feeding to enzyme-based high cell density cultivations in shake flasks resulted in cell densities of OD₆₀₀>50 and a valinomycin titer of appr. 10 mg L⁻¹. This represents a 33-fold improvement compared to the initial batch cultivations and is the highest concentration of a nonribosomal peptide which has been produced in E. coli without feeding of specific precursors so far to our knowledge. Also, such a small-scale optimization under fed-batch conditions may be generally applicable for the development and scale-up of natural product production processes in E. coli.

Semi-scale production of PHAs from waste frying oil by Pseudomonas fluorescens S48.

The present study aimed at developing a strategy to improve the volumetric production of PHAs by Pseudomonas fluorescens S48 using waste frying oil (WFO) as the sole carbon source. For this purpose, several cultivations were set up to steadily improve nutrients supply to attain high cell density and high biopolymer productivity. The production of PHAs was examined in a 14 L bioreactor as one-stage batch, two-stage batch, and high-cell-density fed-batch cultures. The highest value of polymer content in one-stage bioreactor was obtained after 60 h (33.7%). Whereas, the two-stage batch culture increased the polymer content to 50.1% after 54 h. High-cell-density (0.64 g/L) at continuous feeding rate 0.55 mL/l/h of WFO recorded the highest polymer content after 54 h (55.34%). Semi-scale application (10 L working volume) increased the polymer content in one-stage batch, two-stage batch and high cell density fed-batch cultures by about 12.3%, 5.8% and 11.3%, respectively, as compared with that obtained in 2 L fermentation culture. Six different methods for biopolymer extraction were done to investigate their efficiency for optimum polymer recovery. The maximum efficiency of solvent recovery of PHA was attained by chloroform–hypochlorite dispersion extraction. Gas chromatography (GC) analysis of biopolymer produced by Pseudomonas fluorescens S48 indicated that it solely composed of 3-hydrobutyric acid (98.7%). A bioplastic film was prepared from the obtained PHB. The isolate studied shares the same identical sequence, which is nearly the complete 16S rRNA gene. The identity of this sequence to the closest pseudomonads strains is about 98–99%. It was probably closely related to support another meaningful parsiomony analysis and construction of a phylogenetic tree. The isolate is so close to Egyptian strain named EG 639838.

Supplementation of Substrate Uptake Gene Enhances the Expression of rhIFN-β in High Cell Density Fed-Batch Cultures of Escherichia coli

Over-expression of recombinant proteins in Escherichia coli triggers a metabolic stress response which causes a sharp decline in both growth and product formation rates post induction. We identified a key down-regulated substrate utilization gene, glycerol kinase (glpK), whose up-regulation could help alleviate this stress response. In a proof of principal study conducted in shake flask cultures, the glpK gene under the "ara" promoter in a pPROLar.A122 vector was co-transformed along with the recombinant interferon-β (rhIFN-β) gene in a pET22b vector into E. coli BL-21(DE3) cells. Co-expression of glpK improved the expression levels of rhIFN-β in glycerol containing medium, while no such gain was observed in medium without glycerol. This study was extended to high cell density fed-batch cultures where exponential feeding of complex substrates was done to increase biomass and hence product titers. For this we first constructed a modified E. coli strain BL-21(glpK (+)) where the glpK gene was inserted downstream of the ibpA promoter in the host chromosome. There was a significant improvement in growth as well as expression levels of rhIFN-β in this modified strain when the feed medium contained high glycerol. A final product concentration of 4.8g/l of rhIFN-β was obtained with the modified strain which was 35% higher than the control.

Production of yeast chitin–glucan complex from biodiesel industry byproduct

Crude glycerol from the biodiesel industry was used as carbon source for high cell density fed-batch cultivation of Pichia pastoris aiming at producing a chitin–glucan complex (CGC). More than 100gL−1 biomass was obtained in less than 48h. The yield of biomass on a glycerol basis was 0.55gg−1 during the batch phase and 0.63gg−1 during the fed-batch phase. The chitin–glucan complex was recovered from the yeast cell wall by hot alkaline extraction. CGC content in the cell wall was found to be relatively constant throughout the cultivation (18–26%) with a volumetric productivity of 1.28gL−1h−1 at the end of the fed-batch phase. The molar ratio of chitin:β-glucan in the extracted biopolymer was 16:84, close to other CGC extracted from Aspergillus biomass. The extracted polymer was characterized by Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DCS) and solid-state Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and compared with commercial biopolymers, namely, crab shell chitin and/or chitosan, algal β-glucan (laminarin) and fungal chitin–glucan complex (kiOsmetine).

Glucose-limited high cell density cultivations from small to pilot plant scale using an enzyme-controlled glucose delivery system

The enzyme controlled substrate delivery cultivation technology EnBase(®) Flo allows a fed-batch-like growth in batch cultures. It has been previously shown that this technology can be applied in small cultivation vessels such as micro- and deep well plates and also shake flasks. In these scales high cell densities and improved protein production for Escherichia coli cultures were demonstrated. This current study aims to evaluate the scalability of the controlled glucose release technique to pilot scale bioreactors. Throughout all scales, that is, deep well plates, 3 L bioreactor and 150 L bioreactor cultivations, the growth was very similar and the model protein, a recombinant alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) was produced with a high yield in soluble form. Moreover, EnBase Flo also was successfully used as a controlled starter culture in high cell density fed-batch cultivations with external glucose feeding. Here the external feeding pump was started after overnight cultivation with EnBase Flo. Final optical densities in these cultivations reached 120 (corresponding to about 40 g L(-1) dry cell weight) and a high expression level of ADH was obtained. The EnBase cultivation technology ensures a controlled initial cultivation under fed-batch mode without the need for a feeding pump. Because of the linear cell growth under glucose limitation it provides optimal and robust starting conditions for traditional external feed-based processes.