High cell density cultivation of Rhodococcus opacus for lipid production at a pilot-plant scale

The triacylglycerol (TAG)-accumulating bacterium Rhodococcus opacus strain PD630 was investigated with respect to the fermentative production of TAGs consisting of an unusually high fraction of fatty acids with an odd-number of carbon atoms and unsaturated monoenic fatty acids from sugar beet molasses and sucrose. Fed-batch fermentations were optimized at the 30-1 scale in a stirred tank bioreactor at 30 degreesC using a mineral salts medium, which contained sugar beet molasses and sucrose as sole carbon sources. Approximately 37.5 g cell dry matter (CDM) per liter was the highest cell density that was obtained at that scale with a TAG content in the cells of 52%. This fermentative process was also applied to a 500-1 pilot-plant scale. Cell densities as high as 18.4 g CDM per liter were obtained, and 42% of the sucrose present in the medium was converted into cell mass which consisted of 38.4% TAGs.