Enhanced production of CoQ10 by newly isolated Sphingomonas sp. ZUTEO3 with a coupled fermentation-extraction process.

The use of coenzyme Q(10) (CoQ(10)) as a complementary therapy in heart failure will increase in proportion to the growth of the ageing population and the expansion of statins consumption. Economical production of CoQ(10) by microbes will become more important due to the growing demands of the pharmaceutical industry. Process simplification and integration might be one desirable pathway for economic production of CoQ(10) by microbial fermentation. In this report, the effect of a coupled fermentation-extraction process on CoQ(10) production by newly isolated Sphingomonas sp. ZUTEO3 was evaluated. It was found that the CoQ(10) yield of the coupled process was significantly higher than that of the traditional process. As optimal conditions in our experiment, 2% soybean oil was added to the original culture to enhance cell membrane permeability, and 50 mL hexane was added to the 30 h culture as an extracting solvent for the subsequent coupled fermentation-extraction process. The maximal yield of CoQ(10) reached 43.2 mg/L and 32.5 mg/g dry cell weight after 38 h of total fermentation period. The coupled process represents one potential pathway for CoQ(10) production with even higher yield and lower cost. This is the first report of CoQ(10) production by Sphingomonas sp. using a coupled fermentation-extraction process.