Immobilized Cell Production of Secondary Metabolites

叙述：微生物形成的许多有用产物被称为次生代谢物，因为它们不是微生物生长或初级代谢所需要的。诸如青霉素和头孢菌素C等抗生素是目前大规模生产的次级代谢物的例子。转基因生物的产物在很大程度上也类似于次生代谢物。目前的生产方法是分批次生产产品。如果能够制定出良好的处理和分离步骤，以连续的方式进行这一工作将更加有效。固定化微生物（即将微生物附着在固体载体上）的使用为连续处理提供了一种有吸引力的方法，这是拟议研究的重点。本研究将探讨固定细胞通过控制营养水平对次生代谢物产生的调控。同时，研究固定化对转基因微生物稳定性的影响，以及对附着细胞代谢的影响。研究结果对开发新的次生代谢物连续生产工艺具有重要意义。

Narrative: Many of the useful products formed by microorganisms are known as secondary metabolites since they are not required for the growth or primary metabolism of the microbes. Antibiotics such as penicillin and cephalosporin C are examples of secondary metabolites currently produced on a large scale. Products from genetically altered organisms also resemble, for the most part, secondary metabolites. Current production methods involve making the product in individual batches. It would be more efficient to do this in a continuous manner if good processing and separation steps could be developed. The use of immobilized microorganisms (i.e., attaching the organisms to solid supports) presents an attractive approach to continuous processing, and that is the focus of the proposed research. This research will investigate the regulation of secondary metabolite production by immobilized cells through controlling the nutrient levels. Also, it is intended to study the effect of immobilization on the stability of genetically altered microorganisms, as well as the effect on altering the metabolism of attached cells. The results of the research should be extremely useful in developing new continuous production processes for secondary metabolites.