To select a Saccharomyces cerevisiae reference strain amenable to experimental techniques used in (molecular) genetic, physiological and biochemical engineering research, a variety of properties were studied in four diploid, prototrophic laboratory strains. The following parameters were investigated: 1) maximum specific growth rate in shake-flask cultures; 2) biomass yields on glucose during growth on defined media in batch cultures and steady-state chemostat cultures under controlled conditions with respect to pH and dissolved oxygen concentration; 3) the critical specific growth rate above which aerobic fermentation becomes apparent in glucose-limited accelerostat cultures; 4) sporulation and mating efficiency; and 5) transformation efficiency via the lithium-acetate, bicine, and electroporation methods. On the basis of physiological as well as genetic properties, strains from the CEN.PK family were selected as a platform for cell-factory research on the stoichiometry and kinetics of growth and product formation.

Patatin was found to form gels with comparable small-deformational rheological properties as typical food proteins. In addition, at concentrations where the elastic modulus was similar for all proteins, the frequency and strain dependence were also comparable. From this it is concluded that patatin is a promising protein to be used in food applications as a gelling agent.

A novel exopolysaccharide (EPS) produced by Lactobacillus sake 0-1 (CBS 532.92) has been isolated and characterized. When the strain was grown on glucose, the produced EPS contained glucose and rhamnose in a molar ratio of 3:2 and the average molecular mass distribution (M m) was determined at 6 ؋ 10 6 Da. At a concentration of 1%, the 0-1 EPS had better viscosifying properties than xanthan gum when measured over a range of shear rates from 0 to 300 s ؊1 , while shear-thinning properties were comparable. Rheological data and anion-exchange chromatography suggested the presence of a negatively charged group in the EPS. Physiological parameters for optimal production of EPS were determined in batch fermentation experiments. Maximum EPS production was 1.40 g ⅐ liter ؊1 , which was obtained when L. sake 0-1 had been grown anaerobically at 20؇C and pH 5.8. When cultured at lower temperatures, the EPS production per gram of biomass increased from 600 mg at 20؇C to 700 mg at 10؇C but the growth rate in the exponential phase decreased from 0.16 to 0.03 g ⅐ liter ؊1 ⅐ h ؊1. EPS production started in the early growth phase and stopped when the culture reached the stationary phase. Growing the 0-1 strain on different energy sources such as glucose, galactose, mannose, fructose, lactose, and sucrose did not alter the composition of the EPS produced.

Major transitions can be expected within the next few decades aiming at the reduction of pollution and global warming and at energy saving measures. For these purposes, new sustainable biorefinery concepts will be needed that will replace the traditional mineral oil-based synthesis of specialty and bulk chemicals. An important group of these chemicals are those that comprise N-functionalities. Many plant components contained in biomass rest or waste stream fractions contain these N-functionalities in proteins and free amino acids that can be used as starting materials for the synthesis of biopolymers and chemicals. This paper describes the economic and technological feasibility for cyanophycin production by fermentation of the potato waste stream Protamylasse™ or directly in plants and its subsequent conversion to a number of N-containing bulk chemicals.

Typically, heat-induced aggregation of proteins is studied using a single protein under various conditions (e.g., temperature). Because different studies use different conditions and methods, a mechanistic relationship between molecular properties and the aggregation behavior of proteins has not been identified. Therefore, this study investigates the kinetics of heat-induced aggregation and the size/density of formed aggregates for three different proteins (ovalbumin, β-lactoglobulin, and patatin) under various conditions (pH, ionic strength, concentration, and temperature). The aggregation rate of β-lactoglobulin was slower (>10 times) than that of ovalbumin and patatin. Moreover, the conditions (pH, ionic strength, and concentration) affected the aggregation kinetics of β-lactoglobulin more strongly than for ovalbumin and patatin. In contrast to the kinetics, for all proteins the aggregate size/density increased with decreasing electrostatic repulsion. By comparing these proteins under these conditions, it became clear that the aggregation behavior cannot easily be correlated to the molecular properties (e.g., charge and exposed hydrophobicity).