Effect of biotin on the production of succinic acid by Anaerobiospirillum succiniciproducens

摘要

Succinic acid is an intermediate of the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, and therefore, is found in almost all plant and animal cells, albeit at very low concentrations. It has a very wide usage range, which includes applications in agriculture, food, medicine, plastics, cosmetics, textiles, plating and waste-gas scrubbing. Succinic acid currently is produced commercially by chemical processes. A fermentation process for its production is of great interest because in such process, renewable resources such as corn-derived glucose can be used as starting material. There is not a current biological process for the commercial production of succinic acid. Extensive efforts have been devoted to the isolation and screening of succinic acid-producing microorganisms. The anaerobic bacterium, Anaerobiospirillum succiniciproducens, is considered among the best direct succinic acid producers. A number of patents concerning the production of succinic acid by this organism have been issued. Our first attempt to develop a biological process for the production of succinic acid by A. succiniciproducens involved fermentation media improvement, in particular the use of supplemented nutrients. In this note, we show that higher yield of succinic acid could be achieved by supplementing the fermentation media with biotin, as a potential nutrient supplement representative.