Effect and control of glucose feeding on bacitracin production by fed-batch culture of Bacillus licheniformis

The effect of glucose feeding on bacitracin production was investigated by fed-batch culture of Bacillus licheniformis. In batch culture, bacitracin secretion was induced after the glucose initially contained in the medium was completely consumed. The concentration of bacitracin, however, increased to no more than 340 units·ml⁻¹ in the batch cultivations. Therefore, additional glucose was supplied after exhaustion of the initial glucose. The effect of glucose feeding on bacitracin biosynthesss was investigated in two ways, the pH-stat modal feeding method and the CO₂-dependent feeding method. A kinetic study of bacitracin production found that some glucose was necessary, even during the bacitracin production phase. Excessive feeding of glucose, however, caused a reduction in bacitracin biosynthetic activity. When 50 g·l⁻¹ of defatted soy bean meal (SBM) was used, the bacitracin concentration reached 670 units·ml⁻¹ with the pH-stat modal feeding method and 610 units·ml⁻¹ with the CO₂-dependent feeding method, respectively. The yield of bacitracin from consumed glucose was better for the pH-stat method. Using this control strategy, the highest concentration of bacitracin (940 units·ml⁻¹) was obtained with 150 g·l⁻¹ of SBM.