Optimization of culture conditions and scale-up to plant scales for teicoplanin production by Actinoplanes teichomyceticus

This report describes the optimization of culture conditions for teicoplanin production by Actinoplanes teichomyceticus KCCM-10601, an identified high-teicoplanin-producing strain (US 2006/0134757 A1). Among the conditions tested, temperature, pH, and the dissolved oxygen tension (DOT) were key factors affecting teicoplanin production. When the temperature, pH, and DOT were controlled at 34 C, 7.0 and 20-30%, respectively, a dry-cell weight of 42.8 g l(-1) and a teicoplanin production of 2.9 g l(-1) were obtained after 120 h of batch culture, corresponding to a specific teicoplanin content of 67.8 mg g-DCW-1. Teicoplanin production was scaled-up from a laboratory scale (7-l fermenter) to a pilot scale (300 l) and a plant scale (5,000 l) using the impeller tip velocity (V-tip) as a scale-up parameter. Teicoplanin production at the laboratory scale was similar to those at the pilot and plant scales. This is the highest report of pilot- and plant-scale production of teicoplanin.