Bioconversion of Linoleic Acid to Conjugated Linoleic Acid by Bifidobacterium breve

The bioconversion of linoleic acid (LA) to conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) was investigated to examine LA-adaptation of Bifidobacterium breve KCTC 3461 to additions of 1 to 5 mg/mL of LA overtime. To induce LA-adaptation, B. breve KCTC 3461 was treated with LA, according to three schemes. For LA-adapted B. breve the maximum concentration of CLA, $300\~350{\mu}g/mL$, was obtained in cys-MRS medium containing 1 mg/mL of LA. The CLA production significantly increased with increasing LA concentration, from 1 to 4 mg/mL, but the conversion of LA to CLA gradually decreased. The CLA production capability of B. breve, and its tolerance, improved significantly with LA-adaptation. The addition of LA (1 mg/mL) into the culture broth after 24 h of cultivation in a 100-mL media bottle was most effective at promoting CLA production. In a 2.5-L stirred-tank bioreactor, the observed conversion and productivity of $56.6\%\;and\;35.4{\mu}gmL^{-1}h^{-1}$, respectively, by LA-adapted B. breve were approximately 6.6 and 9.8 times higher than those of LA-unadapted B. breve.