title: Platotex: an innovative and fully automated device for cell growth scale-up of agar-supported solid-state fermentation.
abstract: Among various factors that influence the production of microbial secondary metabolites (MSM), the method of cultivation is an important one that has not been thoroughly investigated. In order to increase microbial throughput and simplify the extraction and workup steps, we performed a study to compare liquid-state fermentation (LSF) with agar-supported solid-state fermentation (AgSF). We found that AgSF is not only more suitable for our applications but offers, for some microbial strains, a higher yield and broader diversity of secondary metabolites. The main limitation of AgSF is the lack of a system to allow production scale-up. In order to overcome this obstacle we developed Platotex, an original fermentation unit offering 2 m(2) of cultivation surface that combines automatic sterilization, cultivation, and drying steps. Platotex is also able to support both LSF and solid-state fermentation (SSF). Platotex conforms to international security and quality requirements and benefits from total remote automation through industrial communication and control standards.
authors.affiliation: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut de Chimie des Substances Naturelles/CNRS, Avenue de la Terrasse, Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Emilie
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Adelin
authors.forename: Noureddine
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Slimani
authors.forename: Sylvie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cortial
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Schmitz-Alfonso
authors.forename: Jamal
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ouazzani
mesh_terms: D000362:Agar; D001419:Bacteria / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D019149:Bioreactors / Q000592:standards*; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000295:instrumentation*; D018914:Cells, Immobilized; D003470:Culture Media; D046508:Culture Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D005285:Fermentation; D008926:Plicamycin / Q000737:chemistry; D013242:Sterilization / Q000379:methods; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media; D000362:Agar; D008926:Plicamycin