Affinity-based in situ product removal coupled with co-immobilization of oily substrate and filamentous fungus

In situ product removal (ISPR) involves actions taken for the fast removal of a product from the producing cell. ISPR is implemented to improve yield and productivity via minimization of product inhibition, minimization of product losses due to degradation or evaporation, and reduction of the number of subsequent downstream processing steps. Here we describe the implementation of affinity-based, specific ISPR as a crucial component of an integrative approach to problems associated with the biocatalytic production of a product exhibiting poor water solubility from an oily, water-insoluble precursor. Our integrative ISPR-based approach consists of co-immobilization of the oily substrate emulsion and the biocatalyst within bilayered alginate beads. A particulate-specific adsorbent, exhibiting high binding capacity of the product, is suspended in the reaction medium with periodical replacements. According to this approach, ISPR implementation is expected to shift the equilibration of product distribution between the co-immobilized oily substrate and the outer medium via specific product immobilization onto the added adsorbent. The product may subsequently be readily recovered via single-step final purification. This integrative approach was successfully demonstrated by the affinity-based ISPR of gamma-decalactone (4-decanolide). gamma-Decalactone was produced from castor oil via its beta-oxidation by the filamentous fungus Tyromyces sambuceus, co-immobilized with emulsified substrate within bilayered alginate beads. Product immobilization onto medium-suspended epichlorohydrin-crosslinked beta-cyclodextrin resulted in higher yield and easy pure product recovery.