Patent ID: 7662934

Claim:
A process for reducing biomass-biomass interactions, biomass-resin interactions, or a combination thereof, comprising: a) preconditioning whole Escherichia coli cells by lowering the pH of a solution containing whole Escherichia coli cells to form an acidic cell solution having a pH of 4.0 to 5.0 and adding at least one solubility enhancer to the acidic cell solution containing the whole Escherichia coli cells, wherein the solubility enhancer comprises a divalent cation or polyethyleneimine; and b) disrupting the preconditioned whole cells to release protein into the acidic solution; wherein the preconditioned-protein-containing disrupted cell solution exhibits reduced flocculation, turbidity, and/or aggregation with a chromatography resin as compared with a non-preconditioned control.