The effects of temperature, agitation and aeration on glycoprotein GP-1 production by Streptomyces kanasenisi ZX01 in bench-scale fermentors were systematically investigated. The maximum final GP-1 production was achieved at an agitation speed of 200 rpm, aeration rate of 2.0 vvm and temperature of 30 °C. By using a dynamic gassing out method, the effects of agitation and aeration on volumetric oxygen transfer coefficient (kLa) were also studied. The values of volumetric oxygen transfer coefficient in the logarithmic phase increased with increase of agitation speed (from 14.53 to 32.82 h−1) and aeration rate (from 13.21 to 22.43 h−1). In addition, a successful scale-up from bench-scale to pilot-scale was performed based on volumetric oxygen transfer coefficient, resulting in final GP-1 production of 3.92, 4.03, 3.82 and 4.20 mg/L in 5 L, 15 L, 70 L and 500 L fermentors, respectively. These results indicated that constant volumetric oxygen transfer coefficient was appropriate for the scale-up of batch fermentation of glycoprotein GP-1 by Streptomyces kanasenisi ZX01, and this scale-up strategy successfully achieved 100-fold scale-up from bench-scale to pilot-scale fermentor.

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Aims:  To evaluate the influence of environmental parameters on the production of antibiotics (xenocoumacins and nematophin) by Xenorhabdus nematophila and enhance the antibiotic activity. Methods and Results:  Response surface methodology (RSM) was employed to study the effects of five parameters (the initial pH, medium volume in flask, rotary speed, temperature and inoculation volume) on the production of antibiotics in flask cultures by X. nematophila YL001. A 25−1‐factorial central composite design was chosen to explain the combined effects of the five parameters and to design a minimum number of experiments. The experimental results and software‐predicted values of production of antibiotics were comparable. The statistical analysis of the results showed that, in the range studied, medium volume in flask, rotary speed, temperature and inoculation volume had a significant effect (P < 0·05) on the production of antibiotics at their individual level, medium volume in flask and rotary speed showed a significant influence at interactive level and were most significant at individual level. The maximum antibiotic activity was achieved at the initial pH 7·64, medium volume in 250 ml flask 25 ml, rotary speed of 220 rev min−1, temperature 27·8°C and inoculation volume of 15·0%. Maximum antibiotic activity of 331·7 U ml−1 was achieved under the optimized condition. Conclusions:  As far as known, there are no reports of production of antibiotic from X. nematophila by engineering the condition of fermentation using RSM. The results strongly support the use of RSM for fermentation condition optimization. The optimization of the environmental parameters resulted not only in a 43·4% higher antibiotic activity than unoptimized conditions but also in a reduced amount of the experiments. The chosen method of optimization of fermentation condition was efficient, relatively simple and time and material saving. Significance and Impact of the Study:  This study should contribute towards improving the antibiotics activity of X. nematophila. Integrated into a broader study of the impact of environmental factors on the production of antibiotic, this work should help to build more rational control strategy, possibly involving scale‐up of production of antibiotics by X. nematophila.

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Phytophthora blight of pepper caused by Phytophthora capsici Leonian is a destructive disease throughout the world. Cuminic acid, extracted from the seed of Cuminum cyminum L., belongs to the benzoic acid chemical class. In this study, the sensitivity and biochemical response of P. capsici to cuminic acid was determined. The mean EC 50 (50% effective concentration) values for cuminic acid in inhibiting mycelial growth and zoospore germination of the 54 studied P. capsici isolates were 14.54˘5.23 µg/mL and 6.97˘2.82 µg/mL, respectively. After treatment with cuminic acid, mycelial morphology, sporangium formation and mycelial respiration were significantly influenced; cell membrane permeability and DNA content increased markedly, but pyruvic acid content, adenosine triphosphate (ATP) content, and ATPase activity decreased compared with the untreated control. In pot experiments, cuminic acid exhibited both protective and curative activity. Importantly, POD and PAL activity of the pepper leaves increased after being treated with cuminic acid. These indicated that cuminic acid not only showed antifungal activity, but also could improve the defense capacity of the plants. All the results suggested that cuminic acid exhibits the potential to be developed as a new phytochemical fungicide, and this information increases our understanding of the mechanism of action of cuminic acid against Phytophthora capsici.

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