Optimization of culture conditions and scale-up to pilot and plant scales for vancomycin production by Amycolatopsis orientalis

This report describes the optimization of culture conditions for vancomycin production by Amycolatopsis orientalis KCCM-10836P, an identified high-vancomycin-producing strain (US11/712,494). Among the conditions tested, pH and the dissolved oxygen tension ( DOT) were key factors affecting vancomycin production. When the pH and DOT were controlled at 7.0 and 20-30%, respectively, a dry-cell weight (DCW) of 62.0 g l(-1) and a vancomycin production of 11.5 g l(-1) were obtained after 120 h of batch culture, corresponding to a specific vancomycin content of 185.4 mg g-DCW-1. Vancomycin production was scaled up from a laboratory scale (7-l fermentor) 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. Vancomycin production at the laboratory scale was similar to those at the pilot and plant scales.