A design of experiments approach for the rapid formulation of a chemically defined medium for metabolic profiling of industrially important microbes

This is the final version. Available on open access from Public Library of Science via the DOI in this recordData Availability: All relevant data are within the manuscript and its Supporting Information files.Geobacillus thermoglucosidans DSM2542 is an industrially important microbe, however the complex nutritional requirements of Geobacilli confound metabolic engineering efforts. Previous studies have utilised semi-defined media recipes that contain complex, undefined, biologically derived nutrients which have unknown ingredients that cannot be quantified during metabolic profiling. This study used design of experiments to investigate how individual nutrients and interactions between these nutrients contribute to growth. A mathematically derived defined medium has been formulated that has been shown to robustly support growth of G. thermoglucosidans in two different environmental conditions (96-well plate and shake flask) and with a variety of lignocellulose-based carbohydrates. This enabled the catabolism of industrially relevant carbohydrates to be investigated.Shell Global Solutions BVUniversity of Exete