Liccioli, Tommaso, Tran, Tina Thi My Tien, Cozzolino, Daniel, Jiranek, Vladimir, Chambers, Paul J and Schmidt, Simon A (2011) Microvinification - How small can we go? Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 89 (5). pp. 1621-1628. ISSN 0175-7598 (print) 1432-0614 (online)

Abstract

High-throughput methodologies to screen large numbers of microorganisms necessitate the use of smallscale culture vessels. In this context, an increasing number of researchers are turning to microtiter plate (MTP) formats to conduct experiments. MTPs are now widely used as a culturing vessel for phenotypic screening of aerobic laboratory cultures, and their suitability has been assessed for a range of applications. The work presented here extends these previous studies by assessing the metabolic footprint of MTP fermentation. A comparison of Chardonnay grape juice fermentation in MTPs with fermentations performed in air-locked (self-induced anaerobic) and cotton-plugged (aerobic) flasks was made. Maximum growth rates and biomass accumulation of yeast cultures grown in MTPs were indistinguishable from self-induced anaerobic flask cultures. Metabolic profiles measured differed depending on the metabolite. While glycerol and acetate accumulation mirrored that of self-induced anaerobic cultures, ethanol accumulation in MTP ferments was limited by the increased propensity of this volatile metabolite for evaporation in microlitre-scale culture format. The data illustrates that microplate cultures can be used as a replacement for self-induced anaerobic flasks in some instances and provide a useful and economical platform for the screening of industrial strains and culture media.

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