Implementation of a rapid microbial screening procedure for biotransformation activities

Area of Science:

• Biotechnology
• Microbial screening
• Biocatalysis

Background:

• Traditional microbial screening methods are often time-consuming and labor-intensive.
• Miniaturization and automation are key to improving the efficiency of bioprocess development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a rapid, efficient, and miniaturized microbial screening procedure.
• To optimize the identification of microbial strains with desirable bioconversion activity.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a 24-well plate format combined with an automated liquid handling system and High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC).
• Screened pre-selected yeast and rhodococci libraries for the bioreduction of 6-bromo-beta-tetralone to 6-bromo-beta-tetralol.
• Cultivated microbes in a miniaturized plate format for time-saving and efficient processing.

Main Results:

• The automated screening procedure was successfully applied to 192 yeast strains and 48 rhodococci strains.
• Demonstrated high efficiency, with 78% of the screened strains exhibiting the desired bioconversion activity.
• The miniaturized and automated method proved advantageous compared to classical screening approaches.

Conclusions:

• The developed 24-well plate-based automated screening system offers a rapid and efficient method for identifying microbial bioconversion capabilities.
• This approach significantly enhances the discovery of valuable biocatalysts for biotransformation processes.
• The high hit rate validates the effectiveness of using pre-selected microbial libraries and automated analysis.