A Fully Automated Robotic System for High Throughput Fermentation

High throughput robotic systems have been used since the 1990s to carry out biochemical assays in microtiter plates. However, before the application of such systems in industrial fermentation process development, some important specific demands should be taken into account. These are sufficient oxygen supply, optimal growth temperature, minimized sample evaporation, avoidance of contaminations, and simple but reliable process monitoring. A fully automated solution where all these aspects have been taken into account is presented. It is basically an arrangement of connected apparatuses (rail-mounted robotic arm, liquid handlers, sealer, shakers, fluorescence reader, etc.) that are integrated into a climatic chamber. Its readiness for use is demonstrated for the cultivation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. This automation system permits to prepare, run, and monitor 768 aerobic micro-scale fermentations in parallel and without the need for any manual intervention. Although the applied quasi-continuous culture fluorescence measurement technique repeatedly requires a short interruption of the shaking process, this does not have a significant influence on the performance of cell culture experiments.