Effect of Medium Composition on the Production of Tetanus Toxin by Clostridium tetani

摘要

The tetanus toxin is a neurotoxin synthesized by the bacillus Clostridium tetani that,after detoxification with formaldehyde,still exhibits antigenic and immunologic properties,hence its denomination of tetanus toxoid.Such a neurotoxin is produced by cultivation of the microorganism in vegetative form on a relatively complex specific medium containing glucose and peptone.The simultaneous effects of the starting levels of glucose (Go) and N-Z Case TT (NZ0) as carbon and nitrogen sources,respectively,on the production of tetanus toxin have been investigated in this work in static cultivations by means of a five-level star-shaped experimental design and evaluated by response surface methodology (RSM) for optimization purposes.The highest final average yield of tetanus toxin (72 L/mL),achieved at Go - 9.7 g/L and NZo - 43.5 g/L,was 80% higher than that obtained with standard cultivations (Go = 8.0 g/L and NZ0 = 25.0 g/L).