Ultrasonic intensification of sorption and desorption processes during the isolation of virginiamycin from the cultural broth of Streptomyces sp. S 15-30

Abstract

Supplementation of fermentation media with synthetic resins is used in the process of biotechnological production of antibiotics and other biologically active substances to prevent the auto-inhibition of the biosynthesis processes due to the binding of secreted target metabolites to a sorbent and their removal from the fermentation volume. The efficiency of a sorbent application may be improved via the ultrasonic stimulation of the antibiotic sorption from cultural broth during fermentation, and the similar stimulation of the reverse process (desorption) during its isolation and purification. In this study, the possibility of the use of ultrasound to improve the processes of sorption and desorption of virginiamycin, a feed antibiotic produced by the highly active strain Streptomyces sp. S 15-30, to/from an Amberlite XAD-16 synthetic resin selectively binding this antibiotic, has been evaluated. According to the obtained results, the ultrasonic treatment with frequency of 22 kHz and acoustic energy density up to 0.05 W·s/cm 3 does not disrupt cell membranes, i.e., does not violate biotechnological processes. At the same time, such treatment increases the sorption capacity of the sorbent in ~1.4 times. The similar ultrasonic treatment of a sorbent at the acoustic field with energy density of 0.5 W·s/cm 3 almost tenfold accelerates desorption of virginiamycin from the resin but does not destroy the sorbent and provides a possibility to its re-use after regeneration. The revealed effects of the ultrasonic treatment may be integrated into the technology of the virginiamycin biosynthesis, isolation, and purification to improve the efficiency of its industrial production.