Screening for the optimal strain and the best clone for production in microtiter plates is a cost effective, automatable and efficient way. Therefore microtiter plates have become a standard method in process development and optimization. Unfortunately, one variable is mostly neglected in this process step: while production is usually done under fed-batch, screening is just carried out in batch mode. With the result, that selected strains / clones are not necessarily the best suitable organism for the production process, due to effects like catabolite repression or overflow metabolism.
Creating fed batch in small scale different kinds of approaches were followed. Besides automated systems of stirred mini-bioreactors there are approaches for high throughput screenings based on either enzymatic or polymer based slow release technologies. In this session, we will present a polymer based system in which nearly any crystalline substrate can be incorporated and released in a defined, linear way. The system is very flexible and can be applied to nearly any cell culture vessel.
Cultivation data on the usage in standard microtiter plates as well as in tablet form in shake flasks will be presented. The significance of having a fed-batch procedure during the screening phase and how easy to integrate the new technology in established cultivation protocols will be shown.