Cyclic fed-batch culture for production of human serum albumin in Pichia pastoris

Simple cyclic fed‐batch culture (cfbc), consisting of a constant medium feed with periodic withdrawals of culture, resulted in a product yield (13.4 mg protein per gram biomass) similar to that obtained using the complex multiphase industrial production strategy (13.7 mg protein per gram biomass). In cfbc, productivity was ultimately limited by the rate at which the cells could assimilate methanol. Glycerol was inhibitory to growth at high concentrations. However, product yield continued to increase as the glycerol concentration was increased. In chemostat culture, dissolved oxygen concentration influenced product yield independently of any detectable influence on cell growth. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biotechnol Bioeng 82: 678–683, 2003.