Diketone cleaving enzyme Dke1 production by Acinetobacter johnsonii--optimization of fermentation conditions

The main objective of this work was the optimization of the production of the novel dioxygenase diketone cleaving enzyme (Dke1) from Acinetobacter johnsonii. Acetylacetone was used as an inducer for enzyme production. In the first step, the growth medium was optimized by using screening designs for finding the optimal carbon and nitrogen source. In the second step, a genetic algorithm was used to optimize the concentrations of all medium components. After six generations the stopping criterion was reached and a growth medium was obtained which produced sixteen times more enzyme than the starting medium. In the next step, an addition profile for the inducer acetylacetone was developed to further increase enzyme production by using a genetic algorithm. In this case, after four generations the stopping criterion was fulfilled. By using the obtained optimal addition profile Dke1 activity was enhanced from 826 to 2584Ul(-1). In comparison to the starting conditions activity could even be increased by a factor of 50.