Evaluation of a novel Wave Bioreactor® cellbag for aerobic yeast cultivation

The Wave Bioreactor (R) is widely used in cell culture due to the benefits of disposable technology and ease of use. A novel cellbag was developed featuring a frit sparger to increase the system's oxygen transfer. The purpose of this work was to evaluate the sparged cellbag for yeast cultivation. Oxygen mass transfer studies were conducted in simulated culture medium and the sparged system's maximum oxygen mass transfer coefficient (k(L) a) was 38 h(-1). These measurements revealed that the sparger was ineffective in increasing the oxygen transfer capacity. Cultures of Saccharomyces cerevisiae were successfully grown in oxygen-blended sparged and oxygen-blended standard cellbags. Under steady state conditions for both cellbag designs, k(L) a values as high as 60 h(-1) were obtained with no difference in growth characteristics. This is the first report of a successful cultivation of a microbe in a Wave Bioreactor (R) comparing conventional seed expansion in shake flasks and stirred tank bioreactors.