Fed-batch pre-industrial production and purification of a consensus tetratricopeptide repeat (CTPR) scaffold as a container for Fluorescent Proteins (FPs)

Abstract

White light-emitting diodes (WLEDs) are big news in the field of lighting, however, current production processes are still very expensive or based on unsustainable inorganic metals such as inorganic phosphorus. The EU-funded ARTIBLED project aims to produce low-cost and high-efficiency Bio-hybrid light-emitting diodes (Bio-HLEDs). This can be achieved using artificially synthesized fluorescent proteins linked in biological scaffolds like the packaging to obtain LED for lighting applications containing a biogenic phosphor. This study aims to optimize the protein scaffold CTPR10 production process to obtain a high number of scaffolds with a good purity level for Bio-HLEDs construction. Different fed-batch fermentation procedures were investigated and it was possible to produce more than two times of biomass and intracellular proteins compared to a conventional fed-batch strategy. The improvement in production leads both to the reduction of costs related to the amount of IPTG used and the isolation of a consistent amount of CTPR10 through rapid and highly efficient purification techniques. The realization of this project represents a significant milestone for Europe which will be at the forefront of innovation in the lighting sector.