Strain Screening Services
A Key Step in Microbial Fermentation
In the field of microbial fermentation, strains are the core factors that determine production efficiency and product quality. High-quality strains not only increase the yield of target products but also enhance the stability of the fermentation process, reduce production costs, and can even give products unique functional characteristics and competitive advantages. Through professional strain screening services, companies can accurately identify excellent strains with high yield, efficiency, stability, and safety from a vast array of microbial resources, laying a solid foundation for the research and production of fermentation products. We are a professional fermentation CDMO service company, focusing on strain screening services. We can provide customers with a full-process solution from strain collection, high-throughput screening to optimization and identification, helping customers quickly obtain efficient and stable excellent strains.
What is Strain Screening?
The field of microbial fermentation relies heavily on strain screening technology. The process selects strains with beneficial characteristics like high target product yields or specialized metabolic functions from a large microbial resource database. The process delivers efficient microbial resources that benefit diverse sectors such as industrial production, pharmaceutical research and development, food processing, and environmental protection. The process of strain screening involves several stages which encompass strain collection and preprocessing followed by high-throughput screening, optimization, and safety assessment. Strain screening aims to select optimal strains for specific uses while improving fermentation productivity and product quality to minimize production expenses.
Purpose of Strain Screening
Increasing Product Yield
In industrial fermentation production, the production capacity of strains is a key factor in producing products like antibiotics, enzyme preparations, amino acids, organic acids, and others. Screening for high-yield strains can significantly increase the yield of target products. For example, in penicillin production, high-yield strains can increase penicillin output from the initial tens of units to tens of thousands of units. For certain natural products, such as secondary metabolites with medicinal value, screening high-yield strains can meet market demand, reduce production costs, and improve economic benefits.
Improving Product Quality
Strain screening can help find strains that produce high-quality products. For example, in yogurt production, selecting excellent lactobacillus strains can produce purer, better-flavored lactic acid, improving yogurt quality. These strains can better control the metabolic pathways during fermentation, resulting in higher purity and fewer impurities in the product. In the production of cosmetic ingredients, such as hyaluronic acid, selecting high-quality strains can synthesize more evenly distributed molecular weights and higher biologically active hyaluronic acid, enhancing the product's moisturizing effects.
Enhancing Strain Stability
Stable strains maintain consistent performance during fermentation production. Screening for genetically stable strains can prevent issues such as strain degeneration or mutation over time. For example, in alcohol fermentation industries, stable yeast strains can ensure consistent alcohol yield and quality during each fermentation process. For production processes requiring long-term continuous fermentation, such as antibiotic production in large fermentation tanks, strain stability is crucial to reduce production fluctuations and prevent product quality degradation due to strain changes.
Adapting to Specific Fermentation Environments
Different fermentation environments, such as temperature, pH, and nutrient composition, have different requirements for strain growth and metabolism. Strain screening can identify strains that are adaptable to specific fermentation environments. For example, in high-temperature fermentation environments, selecting heat-resistant strains allows for normal growth and production at higher temperatures, reducing cooling costs and improving fermentation efficiency. In fermentation raw materials containing specific inhibitory substances, such as industrial waste materials with heavy metal ions or organic solvents, screening for strains that can tolerate these inhibitors can make use of these low-cost materials for fermentation, thereby achieving efficient resource utilization.
Applicaiton of Strain Screening
(1) Pharmaceutical Industry
Antibiotic Production: Screening efficient antibiotic-producing strains is a key process in the pharmaceutical industry. For example, many strains of Streptomyces are important antibiotic producers, and through screening, high-yield strains of antibiotics such as streptomycin and kanamycin can be obtained. These high-yield strains help meet the clinical demand for antibiotics, reduce production costs, and improve drug accessibility.
Biopharmaceuticals: In biopharmaceuticals, strain screening is used to produce recombinant proteins, antibodies, and other biologics. For instance, using Escherichia coli expression systems, strains capable of efficiently expressing recombinant human insulin have been screened, providing large quantities of therapeutic drugs for diabetes patients. By screening strains with high expression capacity and proper folding abilities, the quality and yield of biopharmaceuticals can be enhanced.
Vaccine Development: In vaccine production, selecting suitable strains to prepare vaccine antigens is crucial. For example, producing influenza vaccines requires selecting strains that can efficiently express influenza virus antigens, such as modified avian embryo cells or insect cell strains, ensuring the immunogenicity and effectiveness of the vaccine.
(2) Food Industry
Fermented Food Production: In traditional fermented food production, such as yogurt, soy sauce, vinegar, and beer, strain screening significantly affects product flavor, texture, and shelf life. For instance, in yogurt production, selecting a superior combination of Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus can produce better curd structures, richer flavors, and longer shelf life.
Food Additives Production: Many food additives are produced through microbial fermentation, such as citric acid and riboflavin. Screening high-yield strains of Aspergillus niger for citric acid or Saccharomyces cerevisiae for riboflavin can increase the yield of food additives, meeting the food industry's demands while ensuring product quality and safety.
(3) Bioenergy Industry
Bioethanol Production: During bioethanol fermentation, it is crucial to screen strains that can efficiently utilize the sugars in raw materials and convert them into ethanol. For example, screening heat-tolerant and high-concentration ethanol-resistant yeast strains can improve fermentation efficiency and reduce production costs. These strains can ferment at higher temperatures, reduce cooling costs, and continue to grow and ferment in higher ethanol concentrations, increasing ethanol yield.
Biodiesel Production: Certain microorganisms can synthesize and accumulate lipids, which can be used for biodiesel production. Screening high-lipid-producing strains, such as certain yeast or algae strains, can provide more raw material sources for biodiesel production. These strains can synthesize large amounts of lipids under specific cultivation conditions, improving biodiesel yield and quality.
(4) Environmental Protection Industry
Wastewater Treatment: Screening strains capable of efficiently degrading organic pollutants in wastewater is vital for treatment. For instance, strains of Pseudomonas can degrade petroleum hydrocarbons. By screening these high-efficiency degrading strains and applying them to wastewater treatment plants, treatment efficiency can be improved, and harmful substances in the wastewater can be reduced, protecting the water environment.
Bioremediation: Strain screening also plays a key role in soil and water bioremediation. By selecting strains that can degrade heavy metals, organic pesticides, and other pollutants, these strains can be applied to the remediation of contaminated soils or water bodies, achieving ecological restoration and reducing the harm of pollutants to ecosystems and human health.
Services We Offer
High-Throughput Strain Screening
Utilizing advanced high-throughput screening platforms and technologies, we can rapidly process large numbers of strain samples to achieve efficient and precise strain screening. With automated liquid handling systems, microplate culture techniques, and high-sensitivity detection instruments, we can screen thousands to tens of thousands of strains in a short period, greatly improving screening efficiency and success rates, saving valuable time and resources for clients.
Targeted Screening Services
We provide targeted strain screening services based on specific client needs. Whether it is for strains that efficiently degrade specific substrates, high-yield strains of particular metabolites, or strains with special physiological functions, we can develop personalized screening plans to precisely identify excellent strains that meet client requirements, helping clients achieve unique project goals.
Strain Stability Testing
We perform comprehensive stability testing on selected excellent strains, including genetic stability, growth stability, and yield stability. Through long-term cultivation, repeated subculturing, and cultivation under various environmental conditions, we ensure that the strains maintain stable performance during long-term fermentation production, preventing yield decline and product quality fluctuations due to strain degradation or mutation, providing strong support for production stability and product quality.
Strain Safety Evaluation
We provide comprehensive strain safety evaluation services to ensure that the selected strains meet relevant food safety, drug safety, and environmental protection standards and regulations.
Strain Improvement Services
Based on selected excellent strains, we provide further strain improvement services. Using genetic engineering, mutagenesis, and metabolic engineering techniques, we perform targeted modification and optimization of the strains to improve their yield, efficiency, and stability, endowing the strains with new functional characteristics to meet client needs for product upgrades and innovation, helping clients maintain a competitive edge in the market.
Technical Advantages
Advanced Screening Platform
Our company owns a world-class high-throughput screening platform, equipped with automated liquid handling systems, microplate culture systems, and highly sensitive detection instruments. This allows us to automate, standardize, and scale up the strain screening process. With optimized screening workflows and a stringent quality control system, we ensure the accuracy and reliability of screening results, providing efficient and precise strain selection services to our clients.
Professional Technical Team
Our technical team consists of experts with extensive experience and professional knowledge in microbiology, fermentation engineering, molecular biology, and other related fields. The team members not only have a solid theoretical foundation but also years of practical experience, enabling them to skillfully apply various advanced screening techniques and methods to offer clients professional technical consulting and solutions.
Rich Strain Resources
Our company has established a vast microbial strain resource bank, collecting thousands of strains from around the world, including bacteria, yeast, fungi, and actinomycetes. These strains undergo rigorous identification and preservation processes, providing a rich resource base for our strain screening services.
Customized Service Solutions
We understand that each client's needs are unique, which is why we focus on providing tailored strain screening services. Before starting a project, we communicate in-depth with clients to fully understand their specific needs, goals, and challenges. Based on the client's characteristics and requirements, we develop the most suitable screening strategy and process. During the project implementation, we adjust and optimize the screening plans according to the results and client feedback, ensuring that the final strains selected meet the client's expectations and needs, providing the highest quality and most personalized service experience.
Strict Quality Control
Our company has established a rigorous quality control system that spans the entire strain screening process. From strain collection, pre-treatment, screening, identification, to final delivery, each step undergoes stringent quality testing and control to ensure the strains' quality and performance meet the high standards expected by clients. We use internationally advanced testing technologies and equipment to strictly test key indicators such as purity, activity, yield, and safety, providing detailed quality reports and data support. Through stringent quality control, we ensure that we provide clients with stable and reliable strain resources, guaranteeing smooth production and product quality stability.
Service Process
1. Demand Communication and Project Evaluation
Our professional team will communicate in-depth with you to fully understand your project needs, including target products, fermentation scale, expected yield, quality standards, and other key information. Based on this information, we will conduct a preliminary evaluation of the project, develop a personalized strain screening plan, and discuss and determine the project goals and implementation plan with you.
2. Strain Collection and Pretreatment
According to project requirements, we will collect potential strain resources from global microbial resource banks, natural environmental samples, or the client's own strain collection. The collected strains will undergo strict pretreatment, including purification, preservation, and preliminary physiological and biochemical property assessments, to ensure the purity and activity of the strains and prepare them for subsequent screening.
3. High-Throughput Screening
Using advanced high-throughput screening technologies and automated equipment, we can quickly screen large numbers of strains in a short time. By setting specific screening conditions such as substrate concentration, temperature, pH, etc., combined with efficient detection methods such as enzyme activity assays, metabolite analysis, and biosensors, we can rapidly identify strains with high production potential, significantly improving screening efficiency and success rates.
4. Precise Screening and Optimization
Based on high-throughput screening, we will further refine the selected excellent strains through precise screening and optimization. Using methods such as single-factor experiments and response surface optimization, we will deeply study the key factors affecting strain yield, such as nutritional components, cultivation conditions, and inducers, and fine-tune and optimize the strains to maximize the yield and quality of target products.
5. Strain Identification and Safety Evaluation
The excellent strains selected will undergo comprehensive identification, including morphological observation, physiological and biochemical property analysis, and molecular biological identification, to accurately determine the strain type and characteristics. At the same time, we will conduct safety evaluations to ensure that the strains do not produce harmful substances during fermentation production and comply with relevant food safety and drug safety standards and regulations.
6. Strain Delivery and Technical Support
The selected excellent strains will be delivered to clients in freeze-dried powder, glycerol tubes, or other suitable forms, along with detailed instructions for use and cultivation condition recommendations. Our technical team will also provide ongoing technical support, including guidance on strain preservation, activation, and subculturing, as well as consulting services for fermentation process optimization and product quality control to ensure clients can successfully apply the excellent strains in actual production.
FAQ
1. Can you guarantee that the screened strains will meet our yield and quality requirements?
Although we cannot guarantee absolute success, we use professional screening processes and technical means to maximize the chances of finding strains that meet your requirements. Multiple rounds of screening and verification will be conducted to improve the success rate.
2. What methods are used for strain screening?
Common strain screening methods include streak plate methods, dilution plating methods, selective medium screening, and high-throughput screening techniques. The choice of method depends on the strain characteristics, screening goals, and customer requirements.
3. How are the screened strains preserved and transported?
We will use appropriate preservation methods, such as freeze-drying or glycerol preservation, based on the characteristics of the strain, and ensure the strain's activity and stability during transport. Cold-chain packaging will be used to ensure strain viability during transportation.
4. How do you ensure the stability of the strains during screening?
During screening, we culture and observe the strains over multiple generations to assess their genetic stability. We also apply appropriate screening pressures and optimized cultivation conditions to improve strain stability.
5. Do the screened strains require further identification and verification?
Yes, screened strains generally require further identification and verification to confirm their species, genetic characteristics, and production performance. We can provide related identification and verification services based on customer needs.
