Cell lysis in Escherichia coli cultures stimulates growth and biosynthesis of recombinant proteins in surviving cells

Cell growth and production of recombinant proteins in stationary phase cultures of Escherichia coli recover concomitantly with spontaneous lysis of a fraction of the ageing cell population. Further exploration of this event has indicated that sonic cell disruption stimulates both cell growth and synthesis of plasmid-encoded recombinant proteins, even in exponentially growing cultures. These observations indicate an efficient cell utilisation of released intracellular material and also that this capability is not restricted to extreme nutrient-starving conditions. In addition, the efficient re-conversion of waste cell material can be viewed as a potential strategy for an extreme exploitation of carbon sources and cell metabolites in production processes of both recombinant and non-recombinant microbial products.