Filamentous microorganisms are main producers of organic acids, enzymes, and pharmaceutical agents such as antibiotics and other active pharmaceutical ingredients. With their complex cell morphology, ranging from dispersed mycelia to dense pellets, the cultivation is challenging. In recent years, various techniques for tailor‐made cell morphologies of filamentous microorganisms have been developed to increase product formation and have been summarised under the term morphology engineering. These techniques, namely microparticle‐enhanced cultivation, macroparticle‐enhanced cultivation, and alteration of the osmolality of the culture medium by addition of inorganic salts, the salt‐enhanced cultivation, are presented and discussed in this review. These techniques have already proven to be useful and now await further proof‐of‐concept. Furthermore, the mechanical behaviour of individual pellets is of special interest for a general understanding of pellet mechanics and the productivity of biotechnological processes with filamentous microorganisms. Correlating them with substrate uptake and finally with productivity would be a breakthrough not to be underestimated for the comprehensive characterisation of filamentous systems. So far, this research field is under‐represented. First results on filamentous pellet mechanics are discussed and important future aspects, which the filamentous expert community should deal with, will be presented and critically discussed.

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Salt‐enhanced cultivation as a morphology engineering tool for the filamentous actinomycete Actinomadura namibiensis was evaluated in 500‐mL shaking flasks (working volume 100 mL) with the aim of increasing the concentration of the pharmaceutically interesting peptide labyrinthopeptin A1. Among the inorganic salts added to a complex production medium, the addition of (NH4)2SO4 led to the highest amount of labyrinthopeptin A1 production. By using 50 mM (NH4)2SO4, the labyrinthopeptin A1 concentration increased up to sevenfold compared to the non‐supplemented control, resulting in 325 mg L−1 labyrinthopeptin A1 after 10 days of cultivation. The performance of other ammonium‐ and sulfate‐containing salts (e.g., NH4Cl, K2SO4) was much lower than the performance of (NH4)2SO4. A positive correlation between the uptake of glycerol as one of the main carbon sources and nongrowth‐associated labyrinthopeptin productivity was found. The change in the cell morphology of A. namibiensis in conjunction with increased osmolality by the addition of 50 mM (NH4)2SO4, was quantified by image analysis. A. namibiensis always developed a heterogeneous morphology with pellets and loose mycelia present simultaneously. In contrast to the non‐supplemented control, the morphology of (NH4)2SO4‐supplemented cultures was characterized by smaller and circular pellets that were more stable against disintegration in the stationary production phase.

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