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Efficient Bioconversion of High Concentration Phytosterol Microdispersion to 4-Androstene-3,17-Dione (AD) by Mycobacterium sp. B3805

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Abstract

Low solubility of sterols in aqueous media limits efficient steroid production mediated by biocatalytic microorganisms such as Mycobacterium. Sterol emulsion technologies have been developed with low success rates, largely due to the complexity of generating stable and bioavailable particles. In this study, several aqueous dispersions of sterols in-water of different particle sizes were bioconverted to 4-androstene-3,17-dione (AD) in a solvent-free environment, using a classic microorganism Mycobacterium sp. B3805 as a model system. According to our results, the high concentration (20 g/L) phytosterol dispersions with the smallest particle size tested (370 nm) achieved up to 54% (7.4 g/L) AD production yield in 11 days. Moreover, the use of 0.1 biomass/sterols ratio in a complex bioconversion media containing yeast extract, and a 1:1 glucose/microdispersion ratio in the presence of the surfactant DK-Ester P-160 (HLB16), allowed homogenization and increased microdispersion stability, thus achieving the best results using emulsion technologies to date.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grant no. 12CTI-16838 from CORFO and by grant operational expenses no. 21110224 from Conicyt. R.A. Mancilla was doctoral fellow supported by CONICYT-Chile. The authors would like to thank to Msc Raul Aravena from Nutrartis S.A. for his support in formulating dispersions, Dr. Cecilia Brañez from Naturalis S.A. for the conceptual contribution to the project, and Karen Marquez and Camila Ahumada from PUCV research staff for technical assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Biochemical Engineering, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, 2340000, Valparaíso, CP, Chile

    Rodrigo A. Mancilla

  2. Faculty of Engineering and Sciences, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago, Chile

    Cedric Little

  3. Faculty of Science, Universidad San Sebastián, Lota 2465, 7510157, Santiago, Chile

    Alejandro Amoroso

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  1. Rodrigo A. Mancilla
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Correspondence to Rodrigo A. Mancilla.

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Mancilla, R.A., Little, C. & Amoroso, A. Efficient Bioconversion of High Concentration Phytosterol Microdispersion to 4-Androstene-3,17-Dione (AD) by Mycobacterium sp. B3805. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 185, 494–506 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-017-2665-3

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