Process engineering of pH tolerant Ustilago cynodontis for efficient itaconic acid production

Background Ustilago cynodontis ranks among the relatively unknown itaconate production organisms. In comparison to the well-known and established organisms like Aspergillus terreus and Ustilago maydis, genetic engineering and first optimizations for itaconate production were only recently developed for U. cynodontis, enabling metabolic and morphological engineering of this acid-tolerant organism for efficient itaconate production. These engineered strains were so far mostly characterized in small scale shaken cultures. Results In pH-controlled fed-batch experiments an optimum pH of 3.6 could be determined for itaconate production in the morphology-engineered U. cynodontis Delta fuz7. With U. cynodontis increment fuz7 (R) increment cyp3 (R) P(etef)mttA P(ria1)ria1, optimized for itaconate production through the deletion of an itaconate oxidase and overexpression of rate-limiting production steps, titers up to 82.9 +/- 0.8 g L-1 were reached in a high-density pulsed fed-batch fermentation at this pH. The use of a constant glucose feed controlled by in-line glucose analysis increased the yield in the production phase to 0.61 g(ITA) gGLC-1, which is 84% of the maximum theoretical pathway yield. Productivity could be improved to a maximum of 1.44 g L-1 h(-1) and cell recycling was achieved by repeated-batch application. Conclusions Here, we characterize engineered U. cynodontis strains in controlled bioreactors and optimize the fermentation process for itaconate production. The results obtained are discussed in a biotechnological context and show the great potential of U. cynodontis as an itaconate producing host.