Patent Application: US-201214349130-A

Abstract:
biosurfactants produced by a strain of bacillus sp and to uses thereof . a composition comprising the biosurfactants , and a method for producing the biosurfactants . a method for obtaining a biosurfactant , and a device for implementing the method . the production of biopesticides or biosurfactants for the phytosanitary industry , and in the fields of the food , cosmetics , pharmaceutical and oil industries and the environment .

Description:
the bacillus subtilis bbg125 strain was filed on 10 mar . 2011 under the number cncm 1 - 4451 in the national collection of microorganism cultures ( cncm ) of the institut pasteur ( paris , france ). it was constructed from the bacillus subtilis strain of the atcc 6633 wild type ( duitman et al , 1999 . the mycosubtilin synthetase of bacillus subtilis atcc 6633 : a multifunctional hybrid between a peptide synthetase , an amino transferase , and a fatty acid synthase . proc . natl . acad . sci . usa , 96 , 13294 - 13299 [ 12 ]) according to the protocol described below . 1 . 1 protocol for constructing the pbg200 hybrid plasmid containing εpbp - p repu - neo - εfenf and rep ( r6k ) the pbg106 plasmid ( leclére et al , 2005 . mycosubtilin overproduction by bacillus subtilis bbg100 enhances the organism &# 39 ; s antagonistic and biocontrol activities . appl . environ . microbiol ., 71 , 4577 - 4584 [ 13 ]), was digested by the restriction enzymes sphi ( fermentas , villebon sur yvette , france ; reference er0601 ) and saci ( fermentas , villebon sur yvette , france ; reference er1131 ) in order to isolate and purify a fragment εpbp - p repu - neo - εfenf of 2 . 6 kilo - pairs of bases ( kb ) of sequence seq id no : 11 , in accordance with the protocol described in : sambrook and russell , 2001 . molecular cloning : a laboratory manual , 3 rd ed ., cold spring harbor laboratory , cold spring harbor , n . y . [ 14 ]. this sequence carries two cassettes ( εpbp and εfenf ) for performing homologous recombinations with the chromosome of the bacillus subtilis atcc 6633 strain . at the same time , the plasposon ptnmod - rkm ′ ( dennis and zylstra , 1998 . plasposons : modular self - cloning minitransposon derivatives for rapid genetic analysis of gram - negative bacterial genomes . appl . environ . microbiol . 64 , 2710 - 2715 [ 15 ]) was treated by the restriction enzymes nspl ( fermantas , villebon sur yvette , france ; reference er1471 ) and saci ( fermentas , villebon sur yvette , france ; reference er1131 ) generating a mixture of five fragments , including the fragment carrying rep ( r6k ) of 451 pairs of bases ( pb ), the sequence of which has been isolated and purified ( sambrook and russell , 2001 [ 14 ]). the fragments containing the sequences εpbp - p repu - neo - εfenf and rep ( r6k ) were then ligatured together and ( sambrook and russell , 2001 [ 14 ]). sphl : gcatgc ( in position 1 of the sequence seq id no : 11 ) xbal : tctaga ( in positions 743 and 2088 of the sequence seq id no : 11 ) and sacl : gagctc ( in position 2630 of the sequence seq id no : 11 ) the cassettes εpbp , p repu - neo and εfenf were composed in the following manner : cassette εpbp : from sphl to xbal ( seq id no : 12 ), cassette p repu - neo : from xbal to xbal ( seq id no : 13 ), cassette εfenf : from xbal to sacl ( seq id no : 14 ). the ligature obtained was used to transform the stain of escherichia coli cc118 ( λpir ) ( herrero , de lorenzo and timmis , 1990 . transposon vectors containing non - antibiotic resistance selection markers for cloning and stable chromosomal insertion of foreign genes in gram - negative bacteria . j . bacteriol . 172 : 6556 - 67 [ 16 ]) with a selection on a luria - bertani medium ( or lb or luria broth medium ) ( bertani , 2003 , lysogeny at mid - twentieth century : p1 , p2 and other experimental systems . j . bacteriol . 186 , 595 - 600 [ 17 ]) containing 20 μg / ml of neomycin . the plasmid obtained at e . coli ( λpir ) was called pbg200 ( 3 . 1 kb ) the strain b . subtilis rfb102 ( the strain derived from b . subtilis atcc 6633 obtained by insertion of the pspac - comk cassette in amye . pspac designates the promoter issuing from the plasmid pa - spac ( bacillus genetic stock center , columbus , ohio , usa ) inducible by iptg , comk designates a gene essential for natural competence in bacillus . it is associated with a gene for resistance to spectinomycin ( pspac - comk - spc ), which is integrated in the chromosome gene amye . the strain rfb103 has increased ability for transformation by natural competence , which is induced by iptg ( isopropyl - β - d - galactopyranoside ). it was transformed by pbg200 previously treated by the plasmid amplification system templiphi ( ge healthcare ), and then selected by means of resistance to neomycin , according to the protocol described in dubnau , 1982 ( genetic transformation of bacillus subtilis p148 - 178 . in d . dubnau ( ed ) the molecular biology of the bacilli , vol . i . bacillus subtilis . academic press , inc . new york [ 18 ]). among the nm - r clones , the insertion by double crossing - over of the cassette εpbp - p repu - neo - εfenf in the chromosome of rfb102 was verified by pcr using the primers the overproduction of mycosubtilin in a landy / mops medium at 22 ° c . was verified in accordance with the operating method described in example 2 below . a pbg212 plasmid of 6 . 5 kb dedicated to the insertional inactivation (“ knock - out ”) of the srfa operon of b . subtilis was constructed as follows : a εsrfaa ( 2 . 2 kb ) cassette was generated by pcr using primers srf - fo acaggaatatgctcaatcgaag ( seq id no : 3 ) and srf - rev aaattcgcttccaggcttctg ( seq id no : 4 ), from the genome dna of b . subtilis subsp . subtilis strain 168 ( accession ncbi prjna76 ) previously inserted in the plasmid pgen = t easy ( promega corp , charbonniéres , france ). this amplicon was subsequently sub - cloned in the site ecori ( fermentas , villebon sur yvette , france ; reference er0271 ) of the vector puc19 ( new england biolabs , ispwich , mass ., usa ). the εsrfaa cassette was then interrupted at the site mfei ( fermentas reference er0751 ) by insertion of the tet gene , previously generated by pcr using the primers tetp1 gttgtatcgatgatgaaatactgaattttaaacttag ( seq id no : 5 ) and tett1 tttaatggatctagaagatttgaattcctgttat ( seq id no : 6 ), from the plasmid pbc16 ( dsmz gmbh , brunswick , germany ), the originator of bacillus cereus ( accession : nc_001705 . 1 ). the plasmid pbg144 was obtained by insertion , at the site bsteii ( fermentas , villebon sur yvette , france ; reference er0391 ) situated at the end of the gene tet , of the gene cat previously generated by pcr using the primers pc194cmfwd agaaagcagacaggtaaccctcctaa ( seq id no : 7 and pc194cmrev gcaggttagtgacattaggtaaccga ( seq id no : 8 ) of the plasmid pc194 originating from staphylococcus aureus ( dsmz gmbh , brunswick , germany , accession : nc_002013 . 1 ). novel transformations of b . subtilis bbg116 with the plasmid pbg144 previously linearised by aatii ( fermentas , villebon sur yvette , france ; reference er0991 ) in accordance with the protocol described in dubnau , 1982 ( genetic transformation of bacillus subtilis p148 - 178 . in d . a . dubnau ( ed ) the molecular biology of the bacilli , vol i . bacillus subtilis . academic press , inc . new york [ 18 ]). six cm - r tc - r clones were isolated on a gelosed lb medium containing the appropriate antibiotics . checks by pcr were carried out using the primers srfaa5 - fwd ; aaggaatctcgcaatcatttatcg ( seq id no : 9 ) and srfaa5rev ; cttggtgtaagcggaatttctgtc ( seq id no : 10 ). the non - production of surfactin in a landy / mops medium at 37 ° c . was verified in accordance with the operating method described in example 2 below . the mutant b . subtilis bbg125 was adopted as a monoproducing strain of mycosubtilin . the two strains b . subtilis bbg116 and bbg125 have haemolytic activities on gelose containing 5 % blood as well as antifungal activities on yeasts and moulds on a pda medium . these activities are more marked in the case of the strain b . subtilis bbg 116 , because of the synergy between the surfactant produced and an overproduction of mycosubtilins . these properties are in close relationship with their ability to colonise the surface of the gelosed media , by virtue of the reduction in their surface tension . the summarised characteristics of b . subtilis bbc125 and its parental strains are presented in table 1 below : in order to ensure reproducibility of the composition of the medium , sterile concentrated solutions were produced . a solution of 10 × glucose ( 200 g / l ) was sterilised by autoclaving at 121 ° c . for 20 minutes . a solution of 4 × glutamic acid ( 20 g / l ) was adjusted to ph 8 with a solution of 5m koh and was sterilised by filtration on a filter with a porosity of 0 . 2 μm . a 20 × yeast extract solution ( 20 g / l ) was sterilised by autoclaving at 121 ° c . for 20 minutes . a solution of 40 × n ° 1 minerals ( k 2 hpo 4 , 40 g / 1 ; mgso 4 , 20 g / 1 ; kcl , 20 g / l ) was acidified with concentrated h 2 so 4 to total dissolution of the salts and were sterilised by filtration on a 0 . 2 μm filer . a solution of 40 × n ° 2 mineral salts ( cuso 4 , 64 mg / l ; fe 2 ( so 4 ) 3 , 48 mg / l ; mnso 4 , 16 mg / 1 ) was acidified with concentrated sulphuric acid to total dissolution of the salts and was sterilised by filtration on a filter with a porosity of 0 . 2 μm . the material used , apart from the pipettes , which are sterile and for single use , was previously sterilised by autoclaving at 121 ° c . for 20 minutes , 250 ml of the glutamic acid solution was taken off in a sterile fashion and was then poured into an erlenmeyer flask . 100 ml of the glucose solution was added thereto in a sterile fashion , and then 50 ml of the yeast extract solution and finally 25 ml of each of the mineral solutions . the ph was adjusted to 7 . 0 by means of a sterile 5m koh solution . the volume was supplemented to 1 liter with sterile water . 2 . 4 production of a landy medium buffered with 200 mm of mops a 20 × mops buffer ( 2m ) was produced by dissolving 20 . 93 g of 3 -[ n - morpholino ] propanesulfonic acid ( mops ) ( m1254 , sigma , st louis , mo ., usa ) in 50 ml of water . the solution was sterilised on a filter with a porosity of 0 . 2 μm under a laminar - flow hood . to produce 1 liter of landy medium buffered to 100 mm with mops , 50 ml of 20 × mops was added to the mixture produced in example 2 . 3 . example 3 : culture of b . subtilis bbg125 in erlenmeyer flasks a screw - type tube containing 5 ml of modified e medium ( the clark e medium is modified by reducing the glucose concentration from 40 to 20 g / l . the composition of the medium is as follows : kh 2 po 4 , 2 . 7 g / 1 ; k 2 hpo 4 , 18 . 9 g / 1 ; yeast extract , 0 . 5 g / 1 ; glucose , 20 g / 1 ; edta , 0 . 05 g / 1 ; mgso 4 , 0 . 61 g / 1 ; mnso 4 , 0 . 056 g / 1 ; nacl , 0 . 1 g / 1 ; cacl 2 , 0 . 012 g / 1 ; znzo 4 , 0 . 018 g / 1 ; feso 4 , 0 . 018 g / 1 ; cuso 4 , 0 . 002 g / 1 ; na 2 moo 4 , 0 . 001 g / 1 ; h 3 bo 3 , 0 . 001 g / 1 ; na 2 so 3 , 0 . 001 g / 1 ; nicl 2 , 0 . 0037 g / 1 ; nh 4 no 3 , 4 g / 1 ; mgso 4 , 1 g / l . the ph of the solution is adjusted to 6 . 5 with a 10 % hcl solution ) was inoculated with a colony of the primary strain collection of b . subtilis bbg125 and set to incubate at 30 ° c . for 24 hours under a stirring of 300 rotations per minute ( rpm ). the solution was then homogenised by vortex . a volume of 1 . 5 ml of the culture obtained previously was added to 48 . 5 ml of modified e medium contained in a 500 ml erlenmeyer flask . the whole was set to incubate at 30 ° c . for 12 to 24 hours under stirring of 120 rpm . this first preculture p1 was duplicated . the culture was then homogenised by vortex , and the do 600 nm was then measured with a spectrophotometer ( secoman prim , secoman , domont , france ) until the b . subtilis bbg125 strain was at the start / middle of an exponential growth phase . a p2 preculture was inoculated with 0 . 5 ml of the culture of the best flask p1 and was duplicated . the 500 ml erlenmeyer flasks contained , as the final volume , 50 ml of modified e medium and were incubated at 30 ° c . under 120 rpm stirring . the growth was stopped when the do 600 nm indicated that the culture was at the start / middle of an exponential growth phase ( 1 & lt ; do 600 nm & lt ; 5 ). the purity and quality of p2 were checked , by observation with a microscope and by seeding with a nutritive luria - bertani gelose ( tryptone , 10 g / 1 ; yeast extract , 5 g / 1 ; nacl , 10 g / 1 ; ph 7 . 2 and a mossel gelose ( meat extract , 1 g / 1 ; peptone , 10 g / 1 ; d - mannitol , 10 g / 1 ; nacl , 10 g / 1 ; phenol red , 0 . 025 g / l , agar , 12 g / 1 ; egg yolk , 10 ml / l ; polymyxin , 5 ml / l ; ph 7 . 1 )), more specific of the bacilli , complemented with spectinomycin at 100 μg / ml . the dishes were set to incubate at 30 ° c . for 24 hours . it should be noted that b . subtilis produces colonies with irregular shapes ( the contours are undulating and may exhibit filaments ), with a creamy consistency , the diameter of which is between 2 and 4 mm . in old cultures , the colonies adopt a dry , rough appearance and become encrusted in the gelose . finally , a 2 liter flask containing 200 ml of modified e medium defined above was inoculated at 5 % with the best flask of p2 . this flask was incubated at 30 ° c . under stirring of 120 rpm and the growth was stopped when the do 600 nm indicated that the culture is at the start / middle of an exponential growth phase ( 1 & lt ; do 600 nm & lt ; 5 ). the quality and purity of the culture were checked as indicated for p2 . the culture was centrifuged at 2000 g for 10 minutes at 25 ° c . the residues were washed in sterile physiological water and then the suspensions were centrifuged at 2000 g for 10 min at 25 ° c . the residues were taken up in a volume of e medium without antibiotic , so as to obtain a final do 600 nm of 25 per tube . the suspension was distributed in cryotubes at the rate of 0 . 9 ml of culture and 0 . 6 ml of glycerol . the tubes were homogenised by vortex and stored at − 80 ° c . the e medium was supplemented with spectinomycin at 100 μg / ml . the inoculum was prepared from the strain collection containing cells kept at − 80 ° c . in 40 % glycerol . a tube containing 5 ml of modified e medium defined below was adjusted to ph 7 . 0 with a 10 % hcl solution ( v / v ) and was inoculated with 0 . 5 ml of bacterial suspension of the strain collection . the whole was set to incubate at 30 ° c . for 10 to 14 hours under stirring of 300 rpm . the tube was then homogenised by vortex and the do 600nm was measured . a preculture p1 is then produced in a final volume of 50 ml of modified e medium at ph 7 . 0 contained in a 500 ml erlenmeyer flask . the whole was set to incubate at 30 ° c . under stirring of 140 rpm , the preculture was stopped when the strain was situated at the start / middle of an exponential growth phase ( 1 & lt ; do 600 nm & lt ; 5 ). this first preculture p1 was duplicated . a second preculture p2 was produced in the same way as the preculture p1 and this was inoculated from the first flask of p1 and was duplicated . the volume necessary for starting the cultures in flasks was then centrifuged at 2000 g for 10 min at 25 ° c . the residue was put back in suspension in 10 ml of sterile physiological water . the suspension obtained was centrifuged once again at 2000 g for 10 min . the residue was finally taken up in 10 ml of sterile physiological water . the suspension was then ready for inoculation . the experiments lasted for a minimum of 72 hours and several samples were taken from these cultures . the initial do 600 nm is between 0 . 1 and 0 . 4 . the volume of the erlenmeyer flasks was 500 ml and the volume of the nutritive medium was 100 ml . the following measurements were performed on the samples taken in a sterile fashion under the laminar - flow hood : a check on the purity by isolation on nutritive gelose and mossel gelose + spectinomycin ( 100 μg / ml ), a measurement of the optical density at 600 nm , a measurement of the ph , a measurement of the dry weight and the taking off of the culture supernatant for quantitative analysis of the lipopeptides by hplc : 3 ml of culture is centrifuged for 10 minutes at 10 , 000 g at 4 ° c . and the culture supernatant was stored at − 20 ° c . the lipopeptides were extracted on cartridges of 1 g of maxi - clean c18 gel ( grace davison - alltech , deerfield , ill ., usa ). a cartridge of 1 g of ods was conditioned with 100 % methanol , with 20 ml at the first pass and then 8 ml . the cartridge was then rinsed with 8 ml of milli - q water ( millipore ). 1 ml of culture supernatant with a ph of 6 . 5 ± 0 . 1 was then loaded onto the column . the cartridge was then washed with 8 ml of milli - q water . after drying of the cartridge with 20 ml of air , the lipopeptides were eluted with 4 ml of 100 % methanol . the eluate was dried by means of a vacuum concentrator . the sample was subsequently taken up in 200 μl of 100 % methanol at 4 ° c . to enable hplc analysis . the sample was analysed by means of a complete hplc system , make waters ( online degasser , 717 autosampler , 660s controller , 626 pump , 2996 photodiodearray ) ( waters sas , guyancourt , france ) using a c18 column ( 5 μm , 250 × 2 . 5 mm , vydac 218 tp ). two analyses were carried out . the first analysis was that of the mycosubtilins : 10 μl of purified sample was injected and compared with an iturin a standard at 500 mg / min ( 11774 , sigma - aldrich , st louis , mo ., usa ) with a flow rate of 0 . 6 ml / min . the elution was carried out in isocractic mode using a 60 / 40 / 0 . 1 ( v / v / v ) water / acetonitrile / trifluoroacetic acid solvent . the second analysis was that of the surfactins . 10 μl of purified sample was injected compared with a surfactin standard at 500 mg / l ( s3523 , sigma - aldrich , st louis , mo ., usa ) with a flow rate of 0 . 6 ml / min . the elution was carried out in isocratic mode using a 20 / 80 / 0 . 1 ( v / v / v ) water / acetonitrile / trifluoroacetic acid solvent . the retention time and the second drift of the spectrum between 200 and 400 nm of each peak ( diode array , pda 2996 , waters ) were analysed automatically by means of millennium software for identifying the eluted molecules . the sample was prepared by applying the purification protocol described in example 4 . 1 above , using cartridges of maxi - clean c18 gel ( grace davison - alltech , deerfield , ill ., usa ) of 10 g . the use of 10 g cartridges made it possible to load 10 ml of culture supernatant instead of 1 ml as before . all the volumes were multiplied by a factor of 10 , except for the volumes of methanol . the minimum volume of methanol used for conditioning the cartridge and then eluting the lipopeptides was 10 ml . the sample was loaded manually ( 100 μl ) into the injection system of the semi - preparative hplc , make waters ( 660 controller , 626 pump , 486 absorbance detector ). the column used was a c18 ( 5 μm , 300 × 10 mm , ace ). the elution was carried out at a rate of 3 ml / min in accordance with the gradient presented in table 2 below : the analyses by maldi - tof mass spectrometry ( bruker ultaflex ) were carried out according to requirements using : either culture supernatants , or samples purified on ods cartridge ( grace davison - altech , deerfield , ill . usa ) or samples purified on ods cartridge and by semi - preparative hplc . a ta buffer was prepared by producing a 33 / 67 / 0 . 1 ( v / v / v ) ch 3 ch / water / trifluoroactic acid mixture . a chca buffer is a saturated solution of alpha - cyano - 4 - hydroxycinnamic acid in ta buffer . this buffer was prepared by recovering the supernatant after centrifugation of the alpha - cyano - 4 - hydroxycinnamic acid / ta buffer . the samples to be analysed were prepared by mixing 1 μl sample with 9 μl of hca buffer . the solution of sample deposited by maldi - tof analysis represented a volume of 0 . 5 μl . drying was carried out in open air . the masses were calibrated with a mixture of standard peptides . the calculated masses of the ions [ m + h ] + , [ m + na ] + , [ m + k ] + of the various homologues of mycosubtilins and surfactins obtained are specified in table 3 below : in order to precisely determine the structure of the various forms of mycosubtilin produced by the bbg125 strain , an analysis of the purified samples was carried out by tandem mass spectrometry ( ms - ms ) with ionisation of the electrospray type ( ion trap finnigan mat lcq ) in direct infusion mode after starting the peptide cycle by means of a treatment with n - bromosuccinimide in a concentration equivalent to mycosubtilin in a 70 % acetic acid solution . a first analysis was carried out on the purified c17 anteiso mycosubtilin ( peak 8 ). the spectrum obtained ( ms1 ) is complicated by the two isotopes of br . the spectrum ms2 is complicated by the presence of fragments with 1 , 2 or 3 — nh 3 groups missing , owing to the presence of the asn and gln amino acids . the ms spectrum of the starting product gives the peaks 1085 [ m + h ] + , 1107 [ m + na ] + and 1123 [ m + k ] + corresponding clearly to c17 mycosubtilin . because of the presence of the isotopes 79br and 81br in fairly similar quantities , a distribution of peaks around 1260 is observed that do indeed correspond to the expected drift . for example , the peak at 1257 . 4 corresponds to [ m + h ] + with two 79br , the peak at 1259 . 4 corresponds to [ m + h ] + with 79br and 81br or to [ m + h ] + with two 13c and two 79br , etc . the order of the increasing masses obtained from the fragmentation of the ion at 1257 . 4 is set out in table 5 below : this means that very probably one of the first two amino acids in the open sequence ( n or q of nqpsnvnw ) has been modified . 4 . 7 ms / ms analysis of the peak at 1274 . 4 contained in peak 10 fragments y identical to mycosubtilin anteiso c 17 but with 14 more , including the intense y6 peak at 1029 instead of 1015 for all the other samples . fragments b less than b6 identical to anteiso c 17 mycosubtilin . fragments b greater than or equal to b6 identical to mycosubtilin but with 14 more . these results show us that the molecule would be mycosubtilin with a c 18 rather than c 17 fatty acid . on the basis of the order of elution of the various peaks , we deduce from this the existence of 5 novel forms of mycosubtilin : the forms gln3 , iso c 16 , nc16 , anteiso c 17 , iso c 17 and a c 18 form . the correspondence of these forms with the ten peaks with the molecular masses of the molecules detected by the hplc analysis of example 4 . 5 is presented in table 6 below : tests on antifungal activities were carried out by successive dilutions of the c 18 isoform ( c 18 ms ) in a liquid medium according to the protocol described in besson et al . ( besson et al . 1979 . antifungal activity upon saccharomyces cerevisiae of iturin a , mycosubtilin , bacillomycin l and of their derivatives ; inhibition of this antifungal activity by lipid antagonists . j . antiobiot . ( tokyo ) 32 , 828 - 833 ) [ 19 ]. cultures in 96 - well microplates were carried out in a rich medium : glucose , 40 g / 1 ; peptone , 10 g / 1 ; yeast extract , 2 g / 1 ; ph = 7 . 2 . seeding of saccharomyces cerevisiae was carried out at a do 600nm of 0 . 55 and the absorbance was read after 24 hours and the minimum inhibiting concentration ( mic ) was then determined . this experiment was also carried out with the following isoforms of mycosubtilin ( ms ): ms iso - c 16 , ms n - c 16 , ms anteiso - c17 , ms iso - c 17 . it was also carried out with a composition of mycosubtilins ( ms comp .) comprising , as a percentage with respect to the weight of the composition , 26 % of ms iso - c 16 , 1 % ms gln3 c 17 , 2 % ms n - c 16 , 44 % ms anteiso - c 17 , 23 % ms iso - c 17 and 1 % ms c 18 . this experiment was also carried out , for each of the aforementioned isoforms of mycosubtilins and composition on the following microorganisms : botrytis cinerea , aspergillus niger , sclerotinia sclerotium , candida albicans . the mics obtained for each of these experiments are presented in table 7 below : the pumps p1 , p2 , p3 , p4 , p5 , p6 , p7 , p8 , p9 , p10 , p11 , p12 , p13 and p14 were masterflex l / s peristaltic pumps compact drive model ( cole parmer , vernon hills , ill ., u . s . a . ), the pump p11 was of the n820 . 3 ft . 18 type ( knf neuberger laboport , freiburg , germany ), the valves v1 , v4 and v5 were stop valves made from ptfe ( w3250y , thermo fisher scientific , roskilde , germany ), the valves v2 , v3 , v6 and v7 were three - way stop valves made from ptfe ( w3250z , thermo fisher scientific , roskilde , germany ), the tanks tank 2 and tank 4 were nalgene tanks made from high - density polypropylene with a useful volume of 4 liters ( 2125 - 4000 heavy duty bottles , nalgene , thermo fisher scientific , roskilde , germany ), the tanks tank 1 , tank 3 , tank 5 , tank 6 and tank 7 were nalgene tanks made from high - density polypropylene with a useful volume of 10 or 20 liters ( 2250 autoclavable carboys , nalgene , thermo fisher scientific , roskilde , germany ). the scales b1 , b2 , b3 , b4 , b5 , b6 and b7 were of the ckw - 55 type ; ohaus corporation , pine brook , n . j ., u . s . a . ), the strain of bacillus subtilis was the strain b . subtilis bbg125 . unless indicated to the contrary , the ph was regulated to 7 +/− 0 . 1 by means of the controlled addition , respectively by the pumps p2 and p3 , of solutions of 0 . 66m h 3 po 4 or 3m naoh sterilised previously by autoclaving at 121 ° c . for 20 minutes . a ph electrode was calibrated before autoclaving of the tank using commercial solutions buffered to ph 4 . 0 and ph 7 . 0 and stored at 4 ° c . the process was conducted at 22 °+/− 0 . 1 ° c . by means of an alpha laval 1 m 2 tubular heat exchanger ( 104878 , alpha laval corporate ab , lund , sweden ). the concentration of dissolved oxygen po 2 was measured by means of an oxygen sensor ( mettler toledo , viroflay , france ). the electrolyte of the oxygen sensor was renewed at each experiment . the oxygen sensor was calibrated after autoclaving of the tank when the culture medium reached the set temperature and ph of the experiment . the 0 % of po 2 was obtained by connecting the cable of the sensor to earth and the 100 % po 2 by saturating the medium with air ( 1000 rpm and 1 vvm ). the aeration rate ( fe ) was fixed at 0 . 25 volumes of air per volume of liquid per minute ( vvm ), that is to say 0 . 75 liters / min for 3 liters of landy medium ( example 2 . 1 ). the incoming air was filtered through a 0 . 2 sterilising filter . the software used for controlling the process and acquiring the data was afs biocommand ( new brunswick scientific , edison , n . j ., u . s . a .). the purity of the culture was checked after 48 hours and at the end of culture . culture samples of 10 ml were regularly taken and centrifuged , the optical density and the dry weight were determined , and the supernatant was stored before analysis . the incoming and outgoing gases were analysed in order to obtain data on the respiration of the microorganism . a paramagnetic sensor made it possible to analyse the quantity of oxygen and an infrared sensor that of the carbon dioxide ( xentra 4400 ; servomex company inc ., sugar land , tex ., u . s . a .). the analyser was integrated in a multiplexed device that afforded a sequential analysis on six channels , drying of the gases on naflon membrane ( permapur , saint - leonard , quebec ) and automatic calibration . the air / liquid membrane contactor m1 used in this example is supplied by ge - healthcare , reference cfp - 6 - d - 45 ( ge - healthcare europe gmbh , munich , germany ). it consists of an external module comprising two compartments c1 and c2 . in compartment c1 , a sterile gas circulates containing oxygen . in compartment c2 , the culture medium containing the inoculum circulates at a rate of 24 liters / h / m 2 of membrane imposed by the pump p4 . the membrane m1 has a surface area of 2 . 5 m 2 and is sterilised before use by autoclaving at 121 ° c . for 20 minutes ( this criterion is not exhaustive ). the membrane consists of a set of hollow polyethersulfone fibres having a porosity of 0 . 65 μm . 6 . 3 . device for continuous culture of bacillus subtilis : coupling of a system for extraction / concentration of the biosurfactants by air / liquid membrane contactor 6 . 3 . 1 . coupling of a system for extraction / concentration of the lipopeptides with the air / liquid membrane contactor . the device used for the continuous culture of b . subtilis comprises an air / liquid membrane contactor m1 made from hollow fibres in which b . subtilis bbg125 has been cultivated in a landy medium . b . subtilis bbg125 immobilised on the surface of the membrane m1 degrades this substrate by excreting biosurfactants . the device also comprises means for supplying and drawing off a given flow rate of said substrate continuously in the production device comprising the membrane m1 . the membrane m1 provides , in a sterile environment , the oxygen necessary for the growth of the microorganism in the culture medium , by means of the diffusion of oxygen through its pores . a peristaltic pump p1 continuously supplies the membrane m1 , at a rate f1 , with fresh landy medium stored in a tank 1 , and likewise a peristaltic pump p5 continuously draws off the culture medium from the production device comprising the membrane m1 described above at a rate f2 . the inoculum and the fermentation conditions remain equivalent to those described previously . in order to keep the environment sterile , all the constituents of the device and the various membranes used were sterilised at 121 ° c . for 20 minutes . one feature of this device stems from the fact that it is possible to recycle or not , in the production device comprising the membrane m1 , all the microorganisms cells after having removed from them the residues of organic matter and biosurfactants , which makes it possible to obtain a high rate of growth of the microorganisms in the production device . moreover , this device enables oxygen to be diffused in the culture medium without the formation of bubbles or foam . the device described previously is therefore characterised by the fact that it comprises tangential microfiltration and ultrafiltration means , situated at the discharge from the production device , which separate the liquid into several fractions . a first microfiltration step was performed on a membrane m2 made from hollow polyethersulfone fibres with a pore size of 0 . 2 μm ( ge healthcare ) with a surface area of 0 . 4 m 2 , in which the culture medium containing the cells circulates , by means of the volumetric pump p4 described above , in the compartment c3 of the membrane m2 referred to as the residue . under the effect of a volumetric pump p5 , the medium passes by tangential filtration through the pores of the membrane m2 to the compartment c4 of the membrane m2 . by this means , the culture medium containing the biosurfactants has the cells removed and is extracted and then collected in a tank 2 stirred by blades driven by a motor b or by magnetic agitation ( magnetic agitator , w10512 , thermo fisher scientific , roskilde , germany ) at a speed of 160 rpm . the culture medium of the production device comprising the membrane m1 is taken off continuously to the tank 2 . in order to compensate for this drawing off and to keep a constant volume in the membrane m1 , the pump p1 supplies the bioreactor with new medium contained in tank 1 . moreover , tank 2 and tank 3 are placed respectively on scales b2 and b3 . it is the latter that control the output of the peristaltic pump p1 ( ckw - 55 ; ohaus corporation , pine brook , u . s . a . ), making it possible to maintain a constant volume inside the membrane m1 and thereby obtaining f1 = f2 . in each of the experiments carried out , the degree of dilution is changed after the passage of at least four air / liquid membrane contactor volumes comprising the membrane m1 . the outputs of the pumps p1 and p5 are equal and adjusted so as to obtain , in the device comprising the membrane m1 , a degree of dilution of 0 . 1 h − 1 , that is to say an hourly flow rate equal to 0 . 1 times the volume of the aqueous phase contained in the production device comprising the membrane m1 . a variant of this method has also been implemented . it consists of recycling or not the cells inside the membrane m1 . it is then an open continuous mode presented in broken lines in fig3 and 4 . in the case of non - recycling by the set of valves v6 , v7 and v8 , the culture medium can be pumped by the pump p13 from the membrane m1 and collected in the tank 7 . a drain valve makes it possible to eliminate the cell concentrate intermittently . in this case , the step of microfiltration by the membrane m1 is performed directly on the medium contained in the tank 7 and the cells are then concentrated in the tank 7 rather than in the production device comprising the membrane m1 . the filtrate contained in the tank 2 is finally driven , by means of a pump p6 , into the compartment c5 of a stainless steel tangential ultrafiltration system ( sartocon 2 plus , 17546 —- 202 , sartorius , gottingen , germany ), comprising an ultrafiltration membrane m3 with a cutoff threshold of 10 kda made from regenerated cellulose ( hydrosart ultrafilter , 3021443930e - bsw , sartorius , gottingen , germany ). above the critical micell concentration , the biosurfactants are concentrated in the compartment c5 , referred to a residue , and thus return to the tank 2 . the culture medium is extracted , under the control of a pump p7 , at a rate equivalent to that of the pump p5 , to a compartment c6 , called ultrafiltrate , and collected in a tank 3 . the flow rate will depend on the flow rate imposed by the pump p7 and regulated by means of the information collected by the various scales b2 , b3 and b4 . the purification of the lipopeptides presented in this example is based on the concatenation of ultrafiltration steps through a stainless steel tangential ultrafiltration system ( sartocon 2 plus , 17546 —- 202 , sartorius , gottingen , germany ), comprising an ultrafiltration membrane m4 with a cutoff threshold of 10 kda made from regenerated cellulose ( hydrosart ultrafilter , 3021443930e - bsw , sartorius , gottingen , germany ). this step aims to eliminate from the culture broth a major part of the residual substances such as glucose , glutamate and the various primary metabolites . the formation of micells and micell complexes by the mycosubtilin , when it is situated above its cmc , makes it possible to retain it and therefore concentrate it in the residue , by virtue of the use of the ultrafiltration membrane m4 . this step is performed at 25 ° c . and at a pressure of 0 . 5 bar . this purification step is performed on the concentrated lipopeptides in the tank 2 . after opening of the valve v1 , the pump p8 drives the concentrate to the tank 4 ( nalgene , made from high - density polypropylene with a useful volume of 4 liters ( 2125 - 4000 heavy duty bottles , nalgene , thermo fisher scientific , roskilde , germany )) stirred by blades driven by a motor c or by magnetic agitation ( magnetic agitator , w10512 , thermo fisher scientific , roskilde , germany ) identical to the motor b . ultrafiltration : the concentrate is transferred into the tank 4 , under the control of a masterflex l / s peristaltic pump p8 compact drive model ( cole parmer , vernon hills , ill ., u . s . a . ), and then purified on the membrane m4 , under the control of a masterflex l / s peristaltic pump p9 compact drive model ( cole parmer , vernon hills , ill ., u . s . a .) and collected in the tank 4 . the masterflex l / s peristaltic pump p10 compact drive model ( cole parmer , vernon hills , ill ., u . s . a .) makes it possible to pass the remainder of the constituents of the medium to the compartment c8 and the tank 5 ( nalgene made from high - density polypropylene with a useful volume of 10 or 20 liters ( 2250 autoclavable carboys , nalgene , thermo fisher scientific , roskilde , germany )). this process is continued until the volume contained in the tank 4 is reduced to 10 % of the volume initially in the tank 4 . diafiltration : this step dilutes the culture broth in order to facilitate the passage of the residual substances through the ultrafiltration membrane m4 . the water is then added to the tank 4 by opening the valve v2 until the volume in the tank 4 regains its original level . there follows an ultrafiltration step as described above . this diafiltration step is performed four times in succession . ultrafiltration in the presence of methanol ( meoh ): following the diafiltration steps , meoh is added from the tank 6 ( nalgene made from high - density polypropylene with a useful volume of 10 or 20 liters ( 2250 autoclavable carboys , nalgene , thermo fisher scientific , roskilde , germany ) to the tank 4 via the masterflex l / s peristaltic pump p12 compact drive model ( cole parmer , vernon hills , ill ., u . s . a .) and the valve v2 . this addition of meoh is controlled by the scales b4 , b5 and b6 so that the solution present at this time in the tank 4 contains 70 % meoh ( v / v ). there follows an ultrafiltration step as described above . this step will destroy the micells and pass the mycosubtilin monomers through the pores of the membrane m4 . after filtration , a solution consisting of mycosubtilin and 70 % methanol is collected on the ultrafiltrate side , but this time the ultrafiltrate is collected in the vessel of a rotavapor vv2000 evaporator ( evapo ) ( heidolph instruments gmbh & amp ; co ., schwabach , germany ) by means of the set of valves v3 and v4 . at the end of each step , samples are taken on the filtrate side and the residue side . thus the balance of the purification can be established . this makes it possible to determine the mycosubtilin losses caused by the ultrafiltration and diafiltration steps , by calculating the ratio of the quantity of concentrated mycosubtilin obtained after ultrafiltration to the quantity of mycosubtilin initially present in the tank 4 . the yield of these steps is greater than 70 %. the evaporator ( evapo ) concentrates the mycosubtilins by removing all the methanol and some of the water . this evaporation takes place at a residual pressure of 50 mbar imposed by the vacuum pump p11 , type n820 . 3 ft . 18 ( knf neuberger laboport , freiburg , germany ) and at 50 ° c . during this step , the methanol is evaporated and its vapours are condensed by means of the condenser , and is recycled in the tank 6 . an optional freeze drying step was added to this method in order to improve the preservation of the product . the freeze drying of the lipopeptides is performed directly using a concentrated solution x issuing from the evaporation and recovered by the valve v5 . this is first of all frozen at − 20 ° c . and then freeze dried by means of a heto power dry pl 9000 freeze dryer ( jouan nordic , allerod , denmark ), in accordance with the following steps : 1 hour at − 30 ° c . ; 5 hours at − 10 ° c . ; 5 hours at 0 ° c . ; 5 hours at − 20 ° c . ; 5 hours at 35 ° c . the freeze drying was carried out at a residual pressure of 15 mbar . because of the affinity of the lipopeptides for the interfaces , the protocol for washing the membranes was studied and optimised . it takes account of the nature of the membranes and is in agreement with the recent work published on this subject ( chen , chen and juang , 2007 . separation of surfactin from fermentation broths by acid precipitation and two - stage dead - end ultrafiltration processes . j . membr . sci . 299 , 114 - 121 [ 20 ]; chen , chen , and juang , 2008 . flux decline and membrane cleaning in cross - flow ultrafiltration of treated fermentation broths for surfactin recovery . sep . purif . technol . 62 , 47 - 55 [ 21 ]). these washings denature neither the lipopeptides nor the membranes . the use of solvents is proscribed although some , such as methanol , are very effective for detaching the lipopeptides . tests for sensitivity to ph determined that a ph = 10 is the limit of degradability of the lipopeptides . the washings are performed under stirring and fermentation conditions . the protocol is implemented in seven water - based washing steps . two washings were performed with 3 liters of distilled water at 30 ° c . for 30 minutes . these detached the slightly immobilised biomass . the second washing with distilled water at 30 ° c . made it possible to measure the oxygen transfer coefficient . two washings were performed with 3 liters of 0 . 1 m naoh at 50 ° c . for 1 hour . these detached the highly immobilised biomass and desorbed the majority of the lipopeptides . the membrane was then regenerated with a 0 . 5 m solution of naoh at 50 ° c . for 1 hour then with a 100 ppm solution of naocl at 50 ° c . for 1 hour , and was then cleaned with distilled water at 25 ° c . until neutrality was achieved in the membrane . the whole of the aforementioned method was also implemented by duplicating each membrane , so that it can be washed and regenerated sequentially . this made it possible to implement the method without discontinuing . in order to implement this alternative method , tanks ( not shown ) containing the 0 . 1 and 0 . 5 m soda solution were added to the device . in this example , several tests were performed to produce biosurfactants by b . subtilis by fermentation of glucose at a concentration of 20 g / l , in a production device containing 3 liters of culture medium and a total surface area of air / liquid membrane contactor of 2 . 5 m 2 , conforming to the air / liquid membrane contactor described in example 6 . each of the experiments was repeated twice . only the average of these doublets is presented below . the standard deviation is between 5 % and 15 %. the ph was maintained at 7 , the air flow in the air / liquid membrane contactor was 1 vvm , the culture medium volume was 3 liters circulating in the fibres of said membrane at a speed of 0 . 021 m / s , the pressure of the whole of the system was atmospheric pressure , except at the air inlet , this may be slightly above atmospheric pressure at 0 . 4 bar , the oxygenation conditions of the culture medium were fixed with a volumetric oxygen transfer coefficient of around 40 h − 1 . chromatographic analysis by hplc quantified the substrates and biosurfactants in the various tanks . analysis of the oxygen consumed made it possible to determine the quantity of cells immobilised on the membrane . the following formula was used to determine the biomass immobilised on the membrane over time in ( g m − 2 ) considering that the free and immobilised cells have different specific oxygen consumption rates , oxygen being more accessible for the cells immobilised on the membrane than for those in suspension : biomass immobilized on the membrane at a given time in ( g m − 2 )=( our −( x * our spec cl ))* v /( our spe ci * a ) our spe cl = specific oxygen consumption rate of the free cells our spe ci = specific oxygen consumption rate of the immobilised cells the steps of washing the membranes described in these examples were performed in accordance with the method described in example 7 . 8 . 1 production of mycosubtilin by b . subtilis bbg125 , batch mode in this example , the b . subtilis bbg125 strain was cultivated in batches at 30 ° c . for 48 hours in an air / liquid membrane contactor m1 . in this method two types of biomass were observed , one in free suspension in the culture medium and the other immobilised on the air / liquid membrane contactor . the free cells were cultivated exponentially at 0 . 2 h − 1 of specific growth rate up to the 18 th hour . the free biomass reached a maximum of 2 . 6 g l − 1 after one day of culture and then remained constant until the end of the culture . analysis of the gases revealed the presence of a biomass immobilised on the membrane . the growth of this biomass took place during the first day of culture in order to attain 1 . 2 g m − 2 . a glucose consumption rate of 1 . 61 g l − 1 h was measured during the first day of culture , and then this decreased as the glucose was depleted in the medium . the production of mycosubtilin reached 10 mg l − 1 after two days of culture . 45 mg was desorbed during washing of the membrane resulting in a total production of 25 mg l − 1 and a mean productivity of 0 . 5 mg l − 1 h − 1 . after purification by the microfiltration , ultrafiltration / diafiltration and drying steps , a mixture of mycosubtilin in powder form containing the novel forms of mycosubtilin was obtained . the purity of this mixture was more than 94 %. 8 . 2 continuous production , extraction and purification of mycosubtilin by b . subtilis bbg125 with completely recycled cells in this example , the b . subtilis bbg125 strain ( filed on 10 mar . 2011 under the number cncm 1 - 4451 at the national collection of microorganism cultures ( cncm ) of the institut pasteur ( paris , france )), capable of producing only mycosubtilin in a constitutive manner , was cultivated continuously at 22 ° c . for 72 hours in an air / liquid membrane contactor m1 . in addition to the air / liquid membrane contactor that allows the growth and immobilisation of the cells , the method presented in this example is also characterised by the presence of : devices for supplying and drawing off continuously in said reactor a given flow of said substrate , in accordance with those described in example 6 , a microfiltration membrane m2 with a surface area of 0 . 45 m 2 and a pore size of 0 . 2 in accordance with that described in example 6 , three tanks : supply ( tank 1 ), concentration ( tank 2 ) and waste ( tank 3 ), in accordance with those described in example 6 , and an ultrafiltration membrane m3 with a surface area of 0 . 1 m 2 and a cutoff threshold of 10 kda , in accordance with that described in example 6 . in addition , the supply and drawing - off rates of the pumps p1 and p5 in accordance with those described in this example were equal and adjusted so as to obtain a degree of dilution of around 0 . 1 h − 1 , that is to say an hourly rate equal to 0 . 1 times the volume of the aqueous phase contained in the production device . one feature of this method in accordance with the present invention lies in the fact that all the microorganism cells in the production device are recycled after they have had the residues of organic matter and biosurfactants removed , which makes it possible to obtain a high growth rate of the microorganisms on the membrane . the continuous culture was preceded by 20 hours of batch culture . during the first 40 hours of the continuous culture at 0 . 1 h of degree of dilution , the free biomass continued to increase in the broth up to 7 . 2 g l − 1 . next , its concentration remained constant , which certainly revealed the presence of an inhibiter . on the other hand , analysis of the gases revealed a significant immobilisation of the cells on the membrane , which reached 3 . 1 g m − 2 after three days of culture . during the first two days of culture , the concentration of glucose decreased with a glucose consumption rate of 1 . 5 g l − 1 h − 1 . the mycosubtilin was thus extracted through the microfiltration membrane and was indeed concentrated by the 10 kda ultrafiltration membrane ; the accumulation thereof in the intermediate tank was observed . the mycosubtilin productivity increased in the course of the first 40 hours of culture and reached a maximum of 1 . 5 mg l − 1 h − 1 . after this experiment , washing of the membranes recovered 84 mg of mycosubtilin . at the end of this experiment , the continuous culture produced 895 mg of mycosubtilin in solution , that is to say an average concentration produced of 48 mg of mycosubtilin produced per liter of medium consumed . the ultrafiltration / diafiltration steps obtained surfactin in solution with a purity of 90 %. this continuous method shows a productivity three times greater than that obtained with the batch mode described in example 8 . 1 . ongena , m . and jacques , p . 2008 . bacillus lipopeptides : versatile weapons for plant disease biocontrol . trends microbiol . 16 , 115 - 125 . guez , j . s . et al ., 2007 . setting up and modelling of overflowing fed - batch cultures of bacillus subtilis for the production and continuous removal of lipopeptides , j . biotechnol ., 131 , 67 - 75 . davis , d . a ., lynch , h . c . and varley , j ., 1999 . the production of surfactin in batch culture by bacillus subtilis atcc 21332 is strongly influenced by the conditions of nitrogen metabolism . enzyme microb . technol . 25 , 322 - 329 . landy , m . et al . 1948 . bacillomycin ; an antibiotic from bacillus subtilis active against pathogenic fungi . proc . soc . exp . biol . med . 67 , 539 - 541 . guez , j . s . et al ., 2008 . respiration activity monitoring system ( ramos ), an efficient tool to study the influence of the oxygen transfer rate on the synthesis of lipopeptide by bacillus subtilis . j . biotechnol . 134 , 121 - 126 . remize , p . j . and cabassud , c . 2003 . a novel bubble - free oxidation reactor : the g / l membrane contactor . recent progress in process engineering . integration of membranes in the processes 2 . lavoisier tec et doc . duitman , e . h . et al ., 1999 . the mycosubtilin synthetase of bacillus subtilis atcc 6633 : a multifunctional hybrid between a peptide synthetase , an amino transferase , and a fatty acid synthase . proc . natl . acad . sci . u . s . a ., 96 , 13294 - 13299 . leclére , v . et al ., 2005 . mycosubtilin overproduction by bacillus subtilis bbg100 enhances the organism &# 39 ; s antagonistic and biocontrol activities . appl . environ . microbiol . 71 , 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( tokyo ) 32 , 828 - 833 . chen , h . l ., chen , y . s ., and juang , r . s . 2007 . separation of surfactin from fermentation broths by acid precipitation and two - stage dead - end ultrafiltration processes . j . membr . sci . 299 , 114 - 121 . chen , h . l ., chen , y . s ., and juang , r . s . 2008 . flux decline and membrane cleaning in cross - flow ultrafiltration of treated fermentation broths for surfactin recovery . sep . purif . technol . 62 , 47 - 55 .