Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Vol.64, No.2, 232-239, 1999
Imprinted polymers as tools for the recovery of secondary metabolites produced by fermentation
Imprinted polymers were synthesized using a mixture of pigments, N-glutamyl-rubropuctamine, and N-glutamyl-monascorubramine (I) as the template, and 2-methacrylamido-6-picoline or 4-aminostyrene as functional monomers, to obtain recognition materials capable of forming hydrogen bonds and charge interactions, respectively, with carboxyl groups of target I in the binding sites. The polymers were prepared thermally at a template loading of 5 mol% using ethylene-glycol dimethacrylate or trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate as crosslinkers and acetonitrile or tetrahydrofuran as porogens. The selective binding of I to both types of polymer was demonstrated, although aminostyrene-based materials showed higher overall adsorption and were studied in more detail. It was shown that the kinetics of binding of I from ethyl-acetate extracts of fermented Monascus sp. was very rapid and virtually all the pigment adsorbed can be released by washing the polymer with ethanol-water mixtures. The feasibility of reusing im printed polymer in consecutive adsorption/desorption cycles was also demonstrated.
Keywords:fermentation;imprinted polymers;down-stream processing;secondary metabolites;colorants;fungi;Monascus sp.;rubropuctamine;monascorubramine