Optimization of a Bacterial Cultivation Medium via a Design-of-Experiment Approach in a Sartorius Ambr® 15 Fermentation Microbioreactor System

Abstract

In the evolving landscape of sustainable biopharmaceutical process development, the utilization of bacteria in the production of various compounds via fermentation has attracted extensive attention from scientists. A successful fermentation process and the release of its associated products hinge on the synergy between an efficient bacterial strain and the formulation of a suitable growth medium. Balancing all nutrient levels of a growth medium to maximize microbial growth and the product quality is quite an intricate task. In this context, significant advancements have been achieved via the strategic implementation of design-of-experiment (DOE) methodologies and the utilization of parallel microbioreactor systems. This work presents a case study of the fermentation growth medium optimization of a Gram-negative bacterium of the Neisseriaceae family that releases outer membrane vesicles (OMVs), which represent a potential vaccine platform. To achieve this, the ability of Sartorius MODDE®13 DOE software to explore multiple variables and their interactions was combined with the functionality of a Sartorius Ambr® 15F parallel microbioreactor system. The findings reported in this study have led to the design of a well-suited fermentation medium for a Gram-negative bacterium and an improvement in the quality of the OMVs produced from it.