Glycerophosphate as a phosphorus source in a defined medium for Pichia pastoris fermentation

Pichia pastoris has emerged as a commercially important yeast for the production of a vast majority of recombinant therapeutic proteins and vaccines. The organism can be grown to very high cell densities using a defined basal salts media (BSM). However, BSM contains bi-cation or tri-cation phosphate, which precipitates out of the medium at pH above 5.5, although the optimal fermentation pH of most recombinant protein fermentation varies between 5.5 and 7.0. In this article, the application of glycerophosphates was investigated as a substitute phosphate source in an effort to eliminate precipitation. The solubility of BSM containing sodium or potassium glycerophosphates was examined before and after autoclaving at various pHs. Sodium glycerophosphate was found stable at autoclave temperature but formed complexes with coexisting magnesium and calcium ions that were insoluble above pH 7.0. Medium where sodium glycerophosphate was autoclaved separately and then added to the growth medium did not produce any precipitate up to pH 10.5. The performance of P. pastoris fermentations expressing alpha-galactosidase and ovine interferon-tau using a glycerolphosphate-based medium was found to be comparable to a conventional BSM. The results from this work demonstrate that sodium glycerophosphate can be assimilated by the P. pastoris strains and can be employed as a reliable phosphorus source for both cell growth and recombinant protein production.