• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.362-368
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• 2018

Purpose: Self-sufficiency in paper production is desired in Nigeria. This study was aimed at evaluating the performance of a locally fabricated batch pulp digester. Methods: The pulp yields of sheaths generated as waste in the production of bamboo (Bambusa vulgaris) laminates were determined at different liquor concentrations and treatment time after preliminary experiments to ascertain the conditions under which the sheath started to pulp. Moreover, the optimum pulping conditions and fiber characteristics were determined and estimated, respectively, to ascertain the pulp fiber suitability for paper production. Results: An optimum pulp yield of 65.1% was obtained at 50% NaOH and 25% $Na_2S$ liquor concentration (w/w) when the cooking time was 4 h. The results of fiber characterization of the pulp indicated an average fiber length of 2.19 mm with a low Runkel ratio of 1.63, both of which signify the suitability of the pulp for medium quality paper production. Conclusions: Softwood pulp can be blended with the fibers to improve the strength of the produced paper; further investigation should be carried out to use other non-woody plants for pulp and papermaking.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.604-612
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• 2011

Beauveria bassiana SFB-205 supernatant can effectively control cotton aphid populations, which is closely associated with its chitinase activity. The present work extends to optimizing a culture medium to produce more efficacious supernatant in flask conditions, followed by scale-up in 7 L, 300 L and 1.2 KL fermentors with the parameter of chitinase. In flask conditions, a combination of soluble starch and yeast extract produced the greatest amount of chitinase (5.1 units/ml) and its supernatant had the highest aphicidal activity. An optimal quantitative combination of the two substrates, estimated by a response surface method, enabled the supernatant to have 15.7 units/ml of chitinase activity and 3.7 ml/l of median lethal concentration ($LC_{50}$) of toxicity against cotton aphid adults in laboratory conditions. In the scale-up conditions, overall supernatant had 25-28 units/ml of chitinase activity. Decrease in pH and limitation of dissolved oxygen (DO) during cultures were significantly related to the yield of chitinase. These results suggest that the substrate-dependent chitinase production can be background information for optimizing a culture medium, and pH and DO are critical factors in maximizing the production in scale-up conditions.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.12
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• pp.1849-1855
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• 2006

It has been shown that the initial conditions of bacterial cultivation are extremely important for the successful production of hyaluronic acid (HA) by fermentation. We investigated several parameters that affect cell growth rate and the productivity and molecular weight of hyaluronic acid--i.e., agitation speed, aeration rate, culture temperature, pH, and pressure--to determine how to optimize the production of HA by Streptococcus zooepidemicus on an industrial scale. Using a 30-1 jar fermentor under laboratory conditions, we achieved maximum HA productivity and biomass when the agitation speed and aeration rate were increased simultaneously. By shifting the temperature downward from 35$^{\circ}C$ to 32$^{\circ}C$ at key levels of cell growth during the fermentation process, we were able to obtain HA with a molecular weight of $2.8{\times}10^6$ at a productivity of 5.3 g/l. Moreover, we reproduced these optimized conditions successfully in three 30-1 jar fermentors. By reproducing these conditions in a 3-$m^3$ fermentor, we were able to produce HA with a molecular weight of $2.9{\times}10^6$ at a productivity of 5.4 g/l under large-scale conditions.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.6-10
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• 2001

The production of chitosan from the mycelia of Absidia coerulea was studied to improve cell growth and chitosan productivity. Culture conditions were optimized in batch cultivation (pH 4.5, agitator speed of 250 rpm, and aeration rate of 2 vvm) and the maximum chitosan concentration achieved was 2.3g/L under optimized conditions. Continuous culture was carried out successfully by the formation of new growth spots under optimized conditions, with a chitosan productivity of 0.052g/L(sup)-1 h(sup)-1, which is the highest value to date, and was obtained at a dulution rate of 0.05h(sup)-1. Cell chitosan concentrations reached about 14% in the steady state, which is similar to that achieved in batch culture. This study shows that for the continuous culture of Absidia coerulea it is vital to control the medium composition.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.21 no.10
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• pp.1255-1263
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• 2012

Batch cultivations were performed to evaluate the influences of the initial pH condition on mesophilic and thermophilic acidogenic fermentation with food waste recycling wastewater. In both conditions of mesophilic and thermophilic fermentation, TVFAs production rates were maximized at the initial pH 7 condition as 0.15 and 0.23 g TVFAs/L hr, respectively. And pH was also maintained stably between 6 and 7 during 72hr acidogenic cultivation at both conditions. However, predominant VFA components were different according to reaction temperature conditions. In mesophilic condition, propionic acid which has low conversion efficiency to methane was accumulated up to 1,348 mg/L while acetic and butyric acid were predominant in thermophilic condition. Therefore, thermophilic acidogenic fermentation was superior for the effective VFAs production than mesophilic condition. From the DGGE analysis, the band patterns were different according to the initial pH conditions but the correlations of the each band were increased in similar pH conditions. These results mean that microbial communities were certainly affected by the initial pH condition. Consequently, the adjustment of the initial pH to neutral region and thermophilic operation are needed to enhance acidogenic fermentation of food waste recycling wastewater.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.417-422
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• 1990

For optimal production of fructosyl transferase in AureobasidiumpuZZulane C-23, the effect of fermentation conditions for cell growth and fructosyl transferase production were investigated. Sucrose was excellent carbon source. Sucrose concentration for the optimum production of fructosyl transferase was 35%. Enzyme productivity was significantly increased by addition of ammonium oxalate and yeast extract. A time course study for the enzyme production by Aureobasidium pullutans C-23 was carried out. At 2 days incubation, the production of intracellular enzyme was maximum. The extracellular enzyme production was found to be increased up to 6 days.

• Mycobiology
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.211-214
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• 2009

An actinomycete strain was isolated from northern part of Bangladesh and identified as a new Streptomyces species on the basis of its morphological, biochemical, cultural characteristics and 16S rRNA data. Attempts were made to optimize the culture conditions for the production of antimicrobial metabolites by this strain. Antimicrobial metabolites production was started after 7 days of incubation of culture broth and reached its maximum levels after 10 days and thereafter gradually decreased. The maximum production of antimicrobial metabolites was obtained when the culture medium pH was adjusted to 8. The optimum temperature for antimicrobial metabolites production was $39^{\circ}C$, indicated the new strain as mesophilic organism. Basel medium supplemented with glucose and yeast extract as carbon and nitrogen sources, respectively, was proved to be the best for the production of bioactive metabolites. Maximum production of bioactive metabolites was when NaCl concentration was 1% and among different minerals tested, $K_2HPO_4$ and NaCl showed positive influence on antibiotic production by the strain.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.16-24
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• 1979

In order to investigate the production of aflatoxin in various conditions such as pH, moisture and temperature, 27 smaples were inoculated with Aspergillus flavus, and in addition 3 smaples were inoculated with the mixture of Aspergillus flavus and Bacillus subtilis and cultured under the conditions such as $20^{\circ}C$ and 30% moisture contents. The following results were obtained : 1) Aflatoxin production was the highest at pH 5.0 and relatively high at pH 7.0. Its production was decreased significantly when pH reached 9.0. 2) The yield of aflatoxin was shown comparatively high level at 30% moisture contens. The higher moisture contents was, the lower aflatoxin production was. 3) The highest level of aflatoxin production was at $20^{\circ}C$, and comparatively high level was at $30^{\circ}C$. However, its production was fairly low at $40^{\circ}C$. 4) The highest crude aflatoxin production was 5,093ppm $(B_1,\;1.912\;ppm;\;B_2,\;0.521\;ppm;\;G_1,\;2.119\;ppm;\;G_2,\;0.541\;ppm)$ at 30% moisture, pH 5.0 and $20^{\circ}C$ and the lowest one 2.197 ppm $(B_1,\;0.793\;ppm;\;B_2,\;0.185\;ppm;\;G_1,\;0.102\;ppm;\;G_2,\;0.381\;ppm)$ at 63% moisture, pH 9.0 and $40^{\circ}C$ 5) When Aspergillus flavus and Bacillus subilis were cultured together under the conditions such as $20^{\circ}C$ and 30% moisture, aflatoxin production was decreased by 27% comparing with the culture of Aspergillus flavus alone.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.179-183
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• 1996

Streptoccus Pneumoniae (pneumococcus), the most common cause of bacterial pneumonia, has an ample polysaccharide (PS) capsule that is highly antigenic and is the source of PS vaccine. This investigation was undertaken to optimize the culture conditions for the production of capsulard PS by type 1 pneumococcus. Among several culture media, brain heart infusion (BHI) and Casitone based media were found to support luxuriant growth of pneumococcus type 1 at the same level. Because BHI medium is rather expensive and more complex than the Casitone based media, the Casitone based media was uwed to study optimization of the culture condition. The phase of growth which accomodated maximum PS production was logarithmic phase. Concentrations of glucose greater than 0.2% did not ehnahce growth or PS production. Substitution of netrogen sources with other resources or supplementation of various concentrations of metal ion (with the exception of calcium ion) had adverse affects on growth and PS production. On the other hand, low level aeration was beneficial for increased PS production. Addition of 3 mg/1 concentration of methionine, phenylalanine, and threonine were found to enhance growth and PS production. The synerigistic effect of all the favorable conditions observed in pneumococcal growth assays provided a two-fold cummulative increase in capsular PS production.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.21 no.9
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• pp.947-953
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• 2011

A fungal strain, Aspergillus terreus strain GA2, isolated from an agricultural field cultivating sweet sorghum, produced feruloyl esterase using maize bran. In order to obtain maximum yields of feruloyl esterase, the solid state fermentation (SSF) conditions for enzyme production were standardized. Effective feruloyl esterase production was observed with maize bran as substrate followed by wheat bran, coconut husk, and rice husk among the tested agro-waste crop residues. Optimum particle size of 0.71-0.3 mm and moisture content of 80% favored enzyme production. Moreover, optimum feruloyl esterase production was observed at pH 6.0 and a temperature of $30^{\circ}C$. Supplementation of potato starch (0.6%) as the carbon source and casein (1%) as the nitrogen source favored enzyme production. Furthermore, the culture produced the enzyme after 7 days of incubation when the C:N ratio was 5. Optimization of the SSF conditions revealed that maximum enzyme activity (1,162 U/gds) was observed after 7 days in a production medium of 80% moisture content and pH 6.0 containing 16 g maize bran [25% (w/v)] of particle size of 0.71-0.3 mm, 0.6% potato starch, 3.0% casein, and 64 ml of formulated basal salt solution. Overall, the enzyme production was enhanced by 3.2-fold as compared with un-optimized conditions.