Modelling, monitoring and control of plasmid bioproduction in Escherichia coli cultures

An integrated approach for modelling, monitoring and control the plasmid bioproduction in Escherichia coli cultures is presented. In a first stage, by the implementation of a kinetic model for E. coli cultures, a better bioprocess understanding was reached, concerning the availability of nutrients and products along the bioprocess, and their effects on the plasmid production. Results presented may provide significant help for future modelling and monitoring implementation. In a second stage, FTIR spectroscopy coupled with chemometrics, namely PLS regression, shows its potential as a high-throughput technique for simultaneously estimating the key variables involved in the plasmid production process by E. coli cultures run under distinct conditions. Finally, owing to online monitoring and process control, an NIR fibre optic probe and chemometrics provided promising results concerning the control of biomass and carbon sources in E. coli cultures.