O objetivo desta tese foi explorar o sistema de produção de proteínas heterólogas em microalga com ênfase em Chlamydomonas reinhardtii por meio de: (1) desenvolvimento de um fotobiorreator tubular fechado de escala laboratorial, utilizando técnicas de manufatura digital; (2) avaliação de 7 diferentes proteínas fluorescentes (mTagBFP, Cerulean, Emerald, crGFP, cOFP, tdTomato e mCherry), como sistema reporter de secreção de proteínas em microalga; (3) avaliação do fotobiorreator desenvolvido utilizando cultivo de cepas recombinantes; (4) desenvolvimento de novos peptídeos sinais para secreção de proteínas em C. reinhardtii; (5) avaliação da produção de um biofármaco (hialuronidase) em microalgas, por meio da expressão de duas isoenzimas codificadas pelos genes HYA1 e SPAM1 em C. reinhardtii. O fotobiorreator tubular foi avaliado quanto a sua capacidade de resistir ao processo de esterilização por autoclavação e seu desempenho por meio do cultivo de cepa recombinante secretando mCherry. A fluorescência das proteínas fluorescentes foi medida por leitor de placas de fluorescência e visualizada intracelularmente por microscopia confocal de fluorescência. A atividade de hialuronidase foi determinada através de um ensaio enzimático turbidimétrico. O desenvolvimento do fotobiorreator resultou em um sistema fechado resistente a autoclavação, com capacidade de cultivo de cepas recombinantes de C. reinhardtii. Esse fotobiorreator proporcionou uma produtividade máxima de 10 mg/L.d de mCherry da cepa recombinante em sistema fechado, com velocidade específica de crescimento máxima de 1,27 d-1 para a cepa recombinante testada. Todas as proteínas fluorescentes avaliadas apresentaram capacidade de secreção por C. reinhardtii, com diferentes níveis de interferências em sua medição, permitindo a escolha da mCherry como proteína reporter. Entre os peptídeos sinais avaliados (quatro descritos na literatura - BiP, ARS1, CAH1 e IBP1 - e seis preditos), o peptídeo predito \"SP5\" foi o que apresentou maior capacidade de secreção, determinado por níveis de fluorescência no sobrenadante. A avaliação dos peptídeos sinais constatou a necessidade de explorar o desenvolvimento de sistemas de expressão (e.g. vetores de expressão) aliados a análises computacionais, como o SignalP 4.0. Por último, os dados desse estudo mostram que C. reinhardtii transformadas com o vetor de expressão foi capaz de produzir as duas isoformas de hialuronidase em sua forma ativa, evidenciando a capacidade desse sistema para a produção de biofármacos. Portanto, nesta tese o sistema de expressão de proteínas heterólogas baseado em microalgas foi explorado, atingindo os objetivos propostos. O fotobiorreator desenvolvido tem a capacidade de esterilização em escala laboratorial (1) e em cultivo com cepa recombinante propiciou elevada produtividade (3). As proteínas vermelhas fluorescentes apresentaram-se como as proteínas com menores interferências para estudos de secreção em C. reinhardtii (2). Além disso, o peptídeo predito SP5 apresentou o melhor desempenho na secreção de proteínas (4) e o vetor de expressão empregado permitiu a identificação de cepas produtoras de biofármaco hialuronidase (5). Portanto, o sistema de produção de proteínas heterólogas por microalgas é um sistema promissor e poderá permitir, utilizando sistemas de secreção, obter proteínas de alto valor comercial a baixos custos, empregando a secreção e técnicas de cultivo como a fermentação extrativa. / In this thesis, the heterologous protein production in microalgae with emphasis on Chlamydomonas reinhardtii was explored through: (1) development of a laboratory scale closed tubular photobioreactor using digital manufacturing techniques; (2) evaluation of different fluorescent proteins (mTagBFP, Cerulean, Emerald, crGFP, cOFP, tdTomato and mCherry) as a reporter system for protein secretion in microalgae (3) evaluation of photobioreactor developed using recombinant strains culture; (4) development of new signals peptides for protein secretion in C. reinhardtii (5) expression evaluation of a biopharmaceutical (Hyaluronidase) in microalgae, through the expression of two isoenzymes encoded by the HYA1 and SPAM1 genes in C. reinhardtii. The tubular photobioreactor was evaluated for its ability to resist sterilization process by autoclaving and its performance by culturing recombinant strain secreting mCherry. Fluorescence of fluorescent proteins was measured by fluorescence plate reader and observed intracellularly by confocal fluorescence microscopy. The hyaluronidase activity was determined by a turbidimetric enzymatic assay. The development of the photobioreactor resulted in a closed system resistant to autoclaving, capable of culturing recombinant strains of C. reinhardtii. This recombinant strain achieved a maximum productivity of 10 mg/L.day of mcherry in the closed system, with a maximum growth rate of 1.27 d-1 for the recombinant strain tested. All the fluorescent proteins evaluated had C. reinhardtii secretion capacity, with different interference levels in their measurement, allowing the selection of mCherry as a reporter protein. Among the evaluated peptides (four described in the literature - BiP, ARS1, CAH1 and IBP1 - and six predicted), the predicted peptide \"SP5\" was the one that presented greater capacity of secretion, determined by levels of fluorescence in the supernatant. The results of this study point out the need to explore the development of biological systems (i.e., expression vectors) allied to computational analysis. Finally, the data from this study showed that C. reinhardtii could produce the two isoforms of hyaluronidase in its active form, evidencing the capacity of this system to produce biopharmaceuticals. Therefore, in this thesis the heterologous protein expression system based on microalgae was explored, reaching the proposed objectives. The developed photobioreator has sterilization capabilityin laboratorial scale (1) and in culture with recombinant strain had high productivity (3). The red fluorescent proteins was found as the most suitable proteins for studies of secretion in C. reinhardtii with lower interference levels(2). In addition, the predicted SP5 peptide showed the best performance in protein secretion (4) and the expression vector employed allowed the identification of strains producing biopharmaceutical hyaluronidase (5). Therefore, the system of heterologous proteins production by microalgae is promising and will allow, using secretion systems, to obtain proteins of high commercial value at low costs, using secretion and cultivation techniques such as extractive fermentation.

Les installations nucléaires sont génératrices de déchets liquides radioactifs qui doivent être traités avant leur rejet dans l'environnement. Le cobalt et l'argent radioactifs sont, après le tritium et le carbone 14, les principaux radionucléides rejetés par des réacteurs à eau pressurisée. Les traitements de décontamination d'effluents liquides actuellement mis en œuvre dans les installations nucléaires reposent sur des procédés physico-chimiques d'évaporation, de coagulation/floculation, de séparation de phase, de sorption et d'échange d'ions. Ces procédés conventionnels sont très efficaces mais présentent diverses limitations : ils ne retiennent pas ou peu le carbone 14 et, en situation accidentelle, ils ne sont pas faciles à mettre en œuvre pour traiter de grands volumes. Le développement de procédés innovants palliant à ces inconvénients est donc nécessaire. Les technologies de bio-remédiation pourraient être une alternative intéressante dans le secteur nucléaire mais très peu de procédés ont été proposés. Ce travail vise ainsi à développer une filière de traitement d'effluents nucléaires originale basée sur l'action d'une micro-algue photosynthétique, Coccomyxa actinabiotis, résistant aux rayonnements ionisants et accumulant les radionucléides et métaux toxiques. Les réflexions menées en collaboration avec les différents acteurs du projet ont permis d'établir un cahier des charges pour concevoir la filière de traitement et réaliser un pilote en tenant compte des contraintes associées au milieu nucléaire et à l'utilisation d'une matrice biologique. La filière est organisée en plusieurs opérations incluant d'une part la production et la récolte des micro-algues et d'autre part la décontamination de l'effluent. La faisabilité de chacune de ces opérations est tout d'abord étudiée à l'échelle laboratoire. Ainsi, les conditions opératoires et les outils de suivi, de contrôle, et d'optimisation relatifs aux étapes de (i) production de biomasse algale, (ii) séparation et/ou concentration de la biomasse par microfiltration et (iii) décontamination de l'effluent, en particulier l'élimination de l'argent 110m, du cobalt 60 et du carbone 14, sont recherchés. Le montage de la filière complète est ensuite proposé ; basée sur les résultats obtenus à l'échelle de laboratoire, la faisabilité de la bio-décontamination de radionucléides par la micro-algue à l'échelle pilote est également étudiée et démontrée. Ce travail de recherche permet donc d'envisager le développement d'une filière innovante de traitement des effluents liquides d'industries nucléaires et confirme la potentialité de certaines micro-algues à assurer l'élimination de polluants ciblés. / Nuclear plants produce radioactive liquid wastes which are decontaminated before they are released. Radioactive cobalt and silver are the main radionuclides released by water pressurized reactor, after tritium and carbon 14. Liquid effluents are decontaminated by physic-chemical processes, such as evaporation, coagulation, sorption and ion exchange. These technologies are very efficient but cannot neutralize entirely the carbon-14 and, in the case of emergency situation, they are difficult to implement in order to decontaminate high amount of radioactive liquids. It is necessary to look for alternative decontamination methods. Bio-remediation technologies may constitute interesting alternatives in the nuclear field as well, but only a few bio-based technologies have been proposed. This work aims to develop a treatment unit based on the use of a photosynthetic micro-alga, extremely radio-tolerant and owning high capacity to concentrate radionuclides and toxic metals. The technical specification was draft to design the process and construct the pilot unit taking into account the constraints linked to the use of a biological matrix in a nuclear environment. The pilot-scale treatment unit, based on this micro-alga, includes different tasks to ensure the objectives of the process: algae have first to be produced in a growth medium and harvested before ensuring the treatment of the contaminated effluent. The feasibility of these operations is studied at laboratory scale. Operating conditions and monitoring and optimization tools for each step, (i) biomass production, (ii) biomass separation and concentration by microfiltration, (iii) effluent decontamination of silver-110m, cobalt-60, carbon-14, are sought. Based on the results obtained at laboratory scale, the feasibility of bio-decontamination of radionuclides by the micro-alga at pilot-scale is studied and demonstrated. Through this work, the development of an innovative process has to be considered for the decontamination of liquid effluents from the nuclear industry. This work confirms the high potential of algae to ensure the pollutants elimination.

O objetivo desta tese foi explorar o sistema de produção de proteínas heterólogas em microalga com ênfase em Chlamydomonas reinhardtii por meio de: (1) desenvolvimento de um fotobiorreator tubular fechado de escala laboratorial, utilizando técnicas de manufatura digital; (2) avaliação de 7 diferentes proteínas fluorescentes (mTagBFP, Cerulean, Emerald, crGFP, cOFP, tdTomato e mCherry), como sistema reporter de secreção de proteínas em microalga; (3) avaliação do fotobiorreator desenvolvido utilizando cultivo de cepas recombinantes; (4) desenvolvimento de novos peptídeos sinais para secreção de proteínas em C. reinhardtii; (5) avaliação da produção de um biofármaco (hialuronidase) em microalgas, por meio da expressão de duas isoenzimas codificadas pelos genes HYA1 e SPAM1 em C. reinhardtii. O fotobiorreator tubular foi avaliado quanto a sua capacidade de resistir ao processo de esterilização por autoclavação e seu desempenho por meio do cultivo de cepa recombinante secretando mCherry. A fluorescência das proteínas fluorescentes foi medida por leitor de placas de fluorescência e visualizada intracelularmente por microscopia confocal de fluorescência. A atividade de hialuronidase foi determinada através de um ensaio enzimático turbidimétrico. O desenvolvimento do fotobiorreator resultou em um sistema fechado resistente a autoclavação, com capacidade de cultivo de cepas recombinantes de C. reinhardtii. Esse fotobiorreator proporcionou uma produtividade máxima de 10 mg/L.d de mCherry da cepa recombinante em sistema fechado, com velocidade específica de crescimento máxima de 1,27 d-1 para a cepa recombinante testada. Todas as proteínas fluorescentes avaliadas apresentaram capacidade de secreção por C. reinhardtii, com diferentes níveis de interferências em sua medição, permitindo a escolha da mCherry como proteína reporter. Entre os peptídeos sinais avaliados (quatro descritos na literatura - BiP, ARS1, CAH1 e IBP1 - e seis preditos), o peptídeo predito \"SP5\" foi o que apresentou maior capacidade de secreção, determinado por níveis de fluorescência no sobrenadante. A avaliação dos peptídeos sinais constatou a necessidade de explorar o desenvolvimento de sistemas de expressão (e.g. vetores de expressão) aliados a análises computacionais, como o SignalP 4.0. Por último, os dados desse estudo mostram que C. reinhardtii transformadas com o vetor de expressão foi capaz de produzir as duas isoformas de hialuronidase em sua forma ativa, evidenciando a capacidade desse sistema para a produção de biofármacos. Portanto, nesta tese o sistema de expressão de proteínas heterólogas baseado em microalgas foi explorado, atingindo os objetivos propostos. O fotobiorreator desenvolvido tem a capacidade de esterilização em escala laboratorial (1) e em cultivo com cepa recombinante propiciou elevada produtividade (3). As proteínas vermelhas fluorescentes apresentaram-se como as proteínas com menores interferências para estudos de secreção em C. reinhardtii (2). Além disso, o peptídeo predito SP5 apresentou o melhor desempenho na secreção de proteínas (4) e o vetor de expressão empregado permitiu a identificação de cepas produtoras de biofármaco hialuronidase (5). Portanto, o sistema de produção de proteínas heterólogas por microalgas é um sistema promissor e poderá permitir, utilizando sistemas de secreção, obter proteínas de alto valor comercial a baixos custos, empregando a secreção e técnicas de cultivo como a fermentação extrativa. / In this thesis, the heterologous protein production in microalgae with emphasis on Chlamydomonas reinhardtii was explored through: (1) development of a laboratory scale closed tubular photobioreactor using digital manufacturing techniques; (2) evaluation of different fluorescent proteins (mTagBFP, Cerulean, Emerald, crGFP, cOFP, tdTomato and mCherry) as a reporter system for protein secretion in microalgae (3) evaluation of photobioreactor developed using recombinant strains culture; (4) development of new signals peptides for protein secretion in C. reinhardtii (5) expression evaluation of a biopharmaceutical (Hyaluronidase) in microalgae, through the expression of two isoenzymes encoded by the HYA1 and SPAM1 genes in C. reinhardtii. The tubular photobioreactor was evaluated for its ability to resist sterilization process by autoclaving and its performance by culturing recombinant strain secreting mCherry. Fluorescence of fluorescent proteins was measured by fluorescence plate reader and observed intracellularly by confocal fluorescence microscopy. The hyaluronidase activity was determined by a turbidimetric enzymatic assay. The development of the photobioreactor resulted in a closed system resistant to autoclaving, capable of culturing recombinant strains of C. reinhardtii. This recombinant strain achieved a maximum productivity of 10 mg/L.day of mcherry in the closed system, with a maximum growth rate of 1.27 d-1 for the recombinant strain tested. All the fluorescent proteins evaluated had C. reinhardtii secretion capacity, with different interference levels in their measurement, allowing the selection of mCherry as a reporter protein. Among the evaluated peptides (four described in the literature - BiP, ARS1, CAH1 and IBP1 - and six predicted), the predicted peptide \"SP5\" was the one that presented greater capacity of secretion, determined by levels of fluorescence in the supernatant. The results of this study point out the need to explore the development of biological systems (i.e., expression vectors) allied to computational analysis. Finally, the data from this study showed that C. reinhardtii could produce the two isoforms of hyaluronidase in its active form, evidencing the capacity of this system to produce biopharmaceuticals. Therefore, in this thesis the heterologous protein expression system based on microalgae was explored, reaching the proposed objectives. The developed photobioreator has sterilization capabilityin laboratorial scale (1) and in culture with recombinant strain had high productivity (3). The red fluorescent proteins was found as the most suitable proteins for studies of secretion in C. reinhardtii with lower interference levels(2). In addition, the predicted SP5 peptide showed the best performance in protein secretion (4) and the expression vector employed allowed the identification of strains producing biopharmaceutical hyaluronidase (5). Therefore, the system of heterologous proteins production by microalgae is promising and will allow, using secretion systems, to obtain proteins of high commercial value at low costs, using secretion and cultivation techniques such as extractive fermentation.

Interleukin-3 is a cytokine, which acts on many target cells within the haemopoietic system, often in synergy with the other cytokines. Streptomyces lividans NCIMB 11416/IL3 p002 secreting human interleukin-3 was used as the host organism in this study of improving target protein production. Streptomyces also produces several proteases including extracellular endoprotease that truncate the N-terminus of the recombinant protein. Federal guidelines and regulations banning animal-derived medium components necessitate the refinement or redevelopment of industrial medium formulations. The development of a defined medium without animal products is most desirable for the production of pure and safe biological products. The objective of the proposed research was the development and application of engineering methodology for the development of a defined medium and the analysis and optimization of a bacterial bioprocess for recombinant protein production. The underlying hypothesis is that a significant improvement of target protein productivity is achievable by using appropriate optimization techniques. During the first phase of this study the task was to develop a systematic procedure for the design and optimization of a chemically defined medium. The study aimed at replacing casein peptone in conventional medium for S. lividans with essential amino acids and determining the optimum proportion of the amino acids. To accomplish this, starvation trials with growth limiting amino acids were performed to establish the baseline for the nutritional requirement. The starvation trials revealed that essential amino acids for growth and product formation are amongst the following eight amino acids: Arg, Asn, Asp, Glu, Leu, Met, Phe, and Thr. Following these preliminary experiments, a statistically based experimental method called mixture experiments along with distance-based multivariate analysis revealed that Asp, Leu, Met, and Phe were the essential amino acids. Then, another mixture experiment design known as simplex lattice design was performed and artificial neural networks were employed to obtain the optimum proportions of the essential amino acids. The optimal medium was found to be composed of 56% Asp, 5% Met, and 39% Phe. It was found in previous studies that in complex media, several types of protease are produced during fermentation. Using the defined medium no proteolytic activity was detected in the fermentation broth. The second optimization method was based on metabolic flux analysis. A comprehensive metabolic network was developed for S. lividans. The metabolic network included carbohyderate and amino acid metabolism in both anabolic and catabolic reactions. According to the experimental results, the time course of the fermentation was divided into two phases, Phase E1 and Phase E2. In the first phase amino acids were used as a nitrogen source and in the second phase ammonia was the nitrogen source for growth and product formation. The metabolic network was used to form a set of linear algebraic equations based on the stoichiometry of the reactions by assuming pseudo-steady state for intracellular metabolites. The metabolic flux model consisted of 62 intracellular metabolites and 91 biochemical reactions. Two different objective functions were considered for optimization: maximizing the specific growth rate and minimizing the redox equivalent. A linear programming approach was used for optimizing the objective functions. The proposed model was able to predict the specific growth rate very accurately with a maximum error of 10%. The oxygen uptake rate and carbon dioxide evolution rate were evaluated with maximum error of 27% and 35%, respectively. Sensitivity analysis revealed that amino acid uptake was the growth limiting flux during the Phase E1 of the fermentation. During Phase E2 the uptake rate of ammonia had a significant effect on the specific growth rate. Sensitivity analysis of the specific growth rate and redox potential with respect to the biomass components showed that any additional supply of biomass building blocks (amino acids, nucleotides) would not significantly affect the specific growth rate and redox potential production as well as the calculated flux pattern.

The potential application of a hydrogel-based strong anion-exchange (Q) membrane to purify plasmid DNAs was evaluated. The maximum binding capacity of plasmid DNA was estimated to be 12.4 mg/ml of membrane volume with a plasmid DNA recovery of ~ 90%, which is superior to other commercially available anion-exchange resins and membranes. The membrane was able to retain its structural integrity and performance after multiple cycles of usage (> 30 cycles). The inherent properties of plasmid DNA, membrane adsorbent, and the ionic environment on membrane performance were identified as the factors affecting membrane performance and their effects were systematically investigated. Plasmid DNAs with smaller tertiary structure have shorter dynamic radius and/or lowersurface charge densities, which tended to have a better adsorption and recovery than those with larger tertiary structure. Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy (ESEM) revealed that the hydrogel structure is more porous on one side of membrane than the other, and higher plasmid DNA adsorption and recovery capacities were observed if the more porous side of the membrane was installed upward of flow in the chromatographic unit. ESEM also revealed improved pore distribution and increased membrane porosity if membrane was pre-equilibrated in the buffer solution for 16 hours. The development of better flow through channel in the hydrogel membrane upon extensive soaking further improved plasmid DNA adsorption and recovery capacities. The ionic environment affects the tertiary size of plasmid DNA; and the optimal operating pH of membrane chromatography was different for the plasmid DNAs investigated in this study. The relative contribution of these factors to improve membrane chromatography of plasmid DNAs was analyzed using statistical modeling. It was found that the adsorption of plasmid DNA was mainly affected by the available adsorptive area associated with membrane porosity, whereas the recovery of plasmid DNAs was mainly affected by the environmental pH. A novel, RNase-free, and potentially scalable bioprocess was synthesized using the hydrogel membrane as the technology platform for the manufacturing of pharmaceutical-grade plasmid DNA. High bioprocess recovery and product quality were primarily associated with the optimal integration of impurity removal by calcium chloride precipitation and anion-exchange membrane chromatography and the implementation of isopropanol precipitation as a coupling step between the two impurity-removing steps. Complete removal of total cellular RNA impurity was demonstrated without the use of animal-derived RNase. High-molecular-weight (HMW) RNA and genomic DNA (gDNA) were removed by selective precipitation using calcium chloride at an optimal concentration. Complete removal of the remaining low-molecular-weight (LMW) RNA was achieved by membrane chromatography using the high-capacity and high-productive hydrogel membrane. The simultaneous achievement of desalting, concentrating and buffer exchange by the coupling step of isopropanol precipitation and the high efficiency and resolution of DNA-RNA separation by anion-exchange membrane chromatography significantly reduced the operating complexity of the overall bioprocess, increased the overall recovery of plasmid DNA, and enhanced product quality by removing trace amounts of impurities of major concern for biomedical applications, such as gDNA, proteins, and endotoxin.

Interleukin-3 is a cytokine, which acts on many target cells within the haemopoietic system, often in synergy with the other cytokines. Streptomyces lividans NCIMB 11416/IL3 p002 secreting human interleukin-3 was used as the host organism in this study of improving target protein production. Streptomyces also produces several proteases including extracellular endoprotease that truncate the N-terminus of the recombinant protein. Federal guidelines and regulations banning animal-derived medium components necessitate the refinement or redevelopment of industrial medium formulations. The development of a defined medium without animal products is most desirable for the production of pure and safe biological products. The objective of the proposed research was the development and application of engineering methodology for the development of a defined medium and the analysis and optimization of a bacterial bioprocess for recombinant protein production. The underlying hypothesis is that a significant improvement of target protein productivity is achievable by using appropriate optimization techniques. During the first phase of this study the task was to develop a systematic procedure for the design and optimization of a chemically defined medium. The study aimed at replacing casein peptone in conventional medium for S. lividans with essential amino acids and determining the optimum proportion of the amino acids. To accomplish this, starvation trials with growth limiting amino acids were performed to establish the baseline for the nutritional requirement. The starvation trials revealed that essential amino acids for growth and product formation are amongst the following eight amino acids: Arg, Asn, Asp, Glu, Leu, Met, Phe, and Thr. Following these preliminary experiments, a statistically based experimental method called mixture experiments along with distance-based multivariate analysis revealed that Asp, Leu, Met, and Phe were the essential amino acids. Then, another mixture experiment design known as simplex lattice design was performed and artificial neural networks were employed to obtain the optimum proportions of the essential amino acids. The optimal medium was found to be composed of 56% Asp, 5% Met, and 39% Phe. It was found in previous studies that in complex media, several types of protease are produced during fermentation. Using the defined medium no proteolytic activity was detected in the fermentation broth. The second optimization method was based on metabolic flux analysis. A comprehensive metabolic network was developed for S. lividans. The metabolic network included carbohyderate and amino acid metabolism in both anabolic and catabolic reactions. According to the experimental results, the time course of the fermentation was divided into two phases, Phase E1 and Phase E2. In the first phase amino acids were used as a nitrogen source and in the second phase ammonia was the nitrogen source for growth and product formation. The metabolic network was used to form a set of linear algebraic equations based on the stoichiometry of the reactions by assuming pseudo-steady state for intracellular metabolites. The metabolic flux model consisted of 62 intracellular metabolites and 91 biochemical reactions. Two different objective functions were considered for optimization: maximizing the specific growth rate and minimizing the redox equivalent. A linear programming approach was used for optimizing the objective functions. The proposed model was able to predict the specific growth rate very accurately with a maximum error of 10%. The oxygen uptake rate and carbon dioxide evolution rate were evaluated with maximum error of 27% and 35%, respectively. Sensitivity analysis revealed that amino acid uptake was the growth limiting flux during the Phase E1 of the fermentation. During Phase E2 the uptake rate of ammonia had a significant effect on the specific growth rate. Sensitivity analysis of the specific growth rate and redox potential with respect to the biomass components showed that any additional supply of biomass building blocks (amino acids, nucleotides) would not significantly affect the specific growth rate and redox potential production as well as the calculated flux pattern.

Often a manufacturing process may be a bottleneck or critical to a business. This thesis focuses on the analysis and modelling of such processest, to both better understand them, and to support the enhancement of quality or output capability of the process. The main thrusts of this thesis therefore are: To model inter-process physics, inter-relationships, and complex processes in a manner that enables re-exploitation, re-interpretation and reuse of this knowledge and generic elements e.g. using Object Oriented (00) & Qualitative Modelling (QM) techniques. This involves the development of superior process models to capture process complexity and reuse any generic elements; To demonstrate advanced modelling and simulation techniques (e.g. Artificial Neural Networks(ANN), Rule-Based-Systems (RBS), and statistical modelling) on a number of complex manufacturing case studies; To gain a better understanding of the physics and process inter-relationships exhibited in a number of complex manufacturing processes (e.g. pultrusion, bioprocess, and logistics) using analysis and modelling. To these ends, both a novel Object Oriented Qualitative (Problem) Analysis (OOQA) methodology, and a novel Artificial Neural Network Process Modelling (ANNPM) methodology were developed and applied to a number of complex manufacturing case studies- thermoset and thermoplastic pultrusion, bioprocess reactor, and a logistics supply chain. It has been shown that these methodologies and the models developed support capture of complex process inter-relationships, enable reuse of generic elements, support effective variable selection for ANN models, and perform well as a predictor of process properties. In particular the ANN pultrusion models, using laboratory data from IKV, Aachen and Pera, Melton Mowbray, predicted product properties very well.

The potential application of a hydrogel-based strong anion-exchange (Q) membrane to purify plasmid DNAs was evaluated. The maximum binding capacity of plasmid DNA was estimated to be 12.4 mg/ml of membrane volume with a plasmid DNA recovery of ~ 90%, which is superior to other commercially available anion-exchange resins and membranes. The membrane was able to retain its structural integrity and performance after multiple cycles of usage (> 30 cycles). The inherent properties of plasmid DNA, membrane adsorbent, and the ionic environment on membrane performance were identified as the factors affecting membrane performance and their effects were systematically investigated. Plasmid DNAs with smaller tertiary structure have shorter dynamic radius and/or lowersurface charge densities, which tended to have a better adsorption and recovery than those with larger tertiary structure. Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy (ESEM) revealed that the hydrogel structure is more porous on one side of membrane than the other, and higher plasmid DNA adsorption and recovery capacities were observed if the more porous side of the membrane was installed upward of flow in the chromatographic unit. ESEM also revealed improved pore distribution and increased membrane porosity if membrane was pre-equilibrated in the buffer solution for 16 hours. The development of better flow through channel in the hydrogel membrane upon extensive soaking further improved plasmid DNA adsorption and recovery capacities. The ionic environment affects the tertiary size of plasmid DNA; and the optimal operating pH of membrane chromatography was different for the plasmid DNAs investigated in this study. The relative contribution of these factors to improve membrane chromatography of plasmid DNAs was analyzed using statistical modeling. It was found that the adsorption of plasmid DNA was mainly affected by the available adsorptive area associated with membrane porosity, whereas the recovery of plasmid DNAs was mainly affected by the environmental pH. A novel, RNase-free, and potentially scalable bioprocess was synthesized using the hydrogel membrane as the technology platform for the manufacturing of pharmaceutical-grade plasmid DNA. High bioprocess recovery and product quality were primarily associated with the optimal integration of impurity removal by calcium chloride precipitation and anion-exchange membrane chromatography and the implementation of isopropanol precipitation as a coupling step between the two impurity-removing steps. Complete removal of total cellular RNA impurity was demonstrated without the use of animal-derived RNase. High-molecular-weight (HMW) RNA and genomic DNA (gDNA) were removed by selective precipitation using calcium chloride at an optimal concentration. Complete removal of the remaining low-molecular-weight (LMW) RNA was achieved by membrane chromatography using the high-capacity and high-productive hydrogel membrane. The simultaneous achievement of desalting, concentrating and buffer exchange by the coupling step of isopropanol precipitation and the high efficiency and resolution of DNA-RNA separation by anion-exchange membrane chromatography significantly reduced the operating complexity of the overall bioprocess, increased the overall recovery of plasmid DNA, and enhanced product quality by removing trace amounts of impurities of major concern for biomedical applications, such as gDNA, proteins, and endotoxin.

In this study, the effects of bioprocess operation parameters on aromatic amino acid synthesis performance of Bacillus acidocaldarius were investigated. Firstly, in laboratory scale shake-bioreactors, a defined medium was designed in terms of its carbon and nitrogen sources, to achieve the highest cell concentration. Thereafter, the effects of bioprocess operation parameters, i.e., pH and temperature were investigated / and the optimum medium contained (kg m-3): fructose, 8 / (NH4)2HPO4, 5 / CaCl2, 0.2 / KH2PO4, 2 / NaH2PO4.2H2O, 7.318 / Na2HPO4, 0.0438 / Mg(CH3COO)2.4H2O, 87&times / 10-3 / 1 , MgSO4.7H2O / 2&times / 10-3, FeSO4.7H2O / 2&times / 10-3, ZnSO4.7H2O / 15 &times / 10-5, MnSO4.H2O / 2&times / 10-5, CuSO4.5H2O with pH0 =5, T=55&amp / #61616 / C, N=175 min-1. In this medium, the bacteria produced L-tryptophan at the highest concentration of 0.204 kg m-3 and L-phenylalanine at a maximum concentration of 0.0106 kg m-3 with no L-tyrosine production. Finally the fermentation and oxygen transfer characteristics of the bioprocess were investigated in 3.0 dm3 pilot scale bioreactors. The effects of oxygen transfer were investigated at four different conditions at the parameters air inlet rates of QO/VR =0.2, and 0.5 vvm, and agitation rates of N= 250, 500, 750 min-1. The effect of pH was investigated at pH=5 uncontrolled and controlled operations. The variations in cell, fructose, amino acid and organic acid concentrations with the cultivation time / and using the dynamic method, the oxygen uptake rate and the liquid phase mass transfer coefficient values throughout the growth phase of the bioprocess / the yield and maintenance coefficients were determined. The aromatic amino acids produced at the highest and the least amount and frequency were L-tryptophan and L-tyrosine, respectively. The highest L-tryptophan production, 0.32 kg m-3 in 17 hour was at 0.2 vvm and 500 min-1. Among all operations, the highest L-tryptophan was produced at the lowest oxygen transfer condition. Controlled-pH conditions produced more L-tryptophan.

Submitted by Jos? Henrique Henrique (jose.neves@ufvjm.edu.br) on 2018-06-28T22:53:24Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) jessica_pereira_matos.pdf: 1785661 bytes, checksum: f5dbf30e3ce913eae470d1e958272e42 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Rodrigo Martins Cruz (rodrigo.cruz@ufvjm.edu.br) on 2018-07-18T12:52:05Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) jessica_pereira_matos.pdf: 1785661 bytes, checksum: f5dbf30e3ce913eae470d1e958272e42 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-07-18T12:52:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) jessica_pereira_matos.pdf: 1785661 bytes, checksum: f5dbf30e3ce913eae470d1e958272e42 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017 / Na produ??o do bioetanol lignocelul?sico, as hexoses provenientes da celulose s?o fermentadas a etanol por muitos micro-organismos que ocorrem naturalmente. Entretanto, as pentoses, provenientes da hidr?lise da hemicelulose, como xilose e arabinose, s?o fermentadas a etanol por poucas esp?cies selvagens conhecidas e com baixos rendimentos. H?, portanto, necessidade de sele??o de estirpes de leveduras que sejam capazes de fermentar pentoses e glicose conjuntamente e de forma eficiente. Neste estudo, duas linhagens de leveduras, Candida akabanensis UFVJM-R131 e Galactomyces geotrichum UFVJM-R10, foram avaliadas na fermenta??o alco?lica da fra??o hemicelul?sica de torta de girassol solubilizada por hidr?lise com ?cido dilu?do. A hidr?lise da hemicelulose foi realizada misturando-se 31% de biomassa seca em solu??o de H2SO4 a 6%, que foi mantida por 38 minutos a temperatura de 121?C a 1 atm. A caracteriza??o cromatogr?fica do hidrolisado obtido revelou a exist?ncia de glicose (7,57 g L-1), xilose (19,53 g L-1) e arabinose (8,85 g L- 1), al?m de 5-hidroximetilfurfural (0,71 g L-1), furfural (0,05 g L-1) e ?cido ac?tico (5,27 g L- 1). Ambas as leveduras mostraram-se capazes de produzir etanol a partir do hidrolisado ?cido da torta de girassol. Os processos conduzidos com as leveduras G. geotrichum UFVJM-R10 e C. akabanensis UFVJM-R131 apresentaram valores de YP/S de 0,29 e 0,27 g etanol g-1 a??cares, respectivamente. As quantidades dos inibidores identificados no hidrolisado n?o afetaram a efici?ncia da fermenta??o alco?lica. A suplementa??o do hidrolisado com fontes de nitrog?nio e minerais aumentou a taxa de consumo da xilose e da arabinose. Os resultados obtidos permitiram concluir que as linhagens G. geotrichum UFVJM-R10 e C. akabanensis UFVJMR131 possuem potencial para a produ??o de bioetanol a partir da fra??o hemicelul?sica de biomassas vegetais. / Disserta??o (Mestrado) ? Programa de P?s-gradua??o em Biocombust?veis, Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri, 2017. / In the production of bioethanol lignocellulosic, the hexose from cellulose are fermented to ethanol by many microorganisms that occur naturally. Though, the pentoses from hemicellulose hydrolysis, as xylose and arabinose, are fermented to ethanol by few known wild strains. This fact point the need to select strains of yeasts capable of ferment pentoses and glucose together more efficiently. In the present study, two lineages of yeast, Candida akabanensis UFVJM-R131 and Galactomyces geotrichum UFVJM-R10, were evaluated on alcoholic fermentation of hemicellulosic fraction from sunflower cake solubilized by hydrolysis with dilute acid. The hydrolysis of hemicellulose was performed utilizing 31% of dry biomass in H2SO4 at 6% under 121?C and pressure at 1 atm for 38 minutes. Chromatographic characterization of the hydrolyzate obtained showed the presence of glucose (7.57 g L-1), xylose (19.53 g L-1) and arabinose (8.85 g L-1), besides 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (0.71 g L-1), furfural (0.05 g L-1) and acetic acid (5.27 g L-1). Both yeasts were able to produce ethanol from the acidic hydrolyzate. The fermentation carried out with G. geotrichum UFVJM-R10 and C. akabanensis UFVJM-R131 presented YP/S values of 0.29 and 0.27 g ethanol g-1sugars, respectively. The amounts of the inhibitors identified in the hydrolyzate did not affect the efficiency of the alcoholic fermentation. The supplementation of the hydrolyzate with nitrogen and mineral sources increased the rate of consumption of xylose and arabinose. The results obtained allowed to conclude that the strains G. geotrichum UFVJM-R10 and C. akabanensis UFVJM-R131 have potential for the production of bioethanol from vegetal hemicellulosic fraction.