Upotuskultaus

Upotuskultaus, or submerged culture, is a method used in microbiology and biotechnology to grow cells, microorganisms, or tissues in a liquid nutrient medium. In this approach the organisms are maintained in suspension within the medium, rather than on a solid surface. This allows uniform exposure to nutrients and easier control of environmental conditions.

The process is typically conducted in vessels such as Erlenmeyer flasks, stirred-tank bioreactors, or bubble columns. Inoculum is added to the sterile liquid medium and incubated under controlled temperature, pH, and dissolved oxygen. Agitation and aeration promote mixing and oxygen transfer, critical for aerobic cultures. Parameters are monitored and adjusted; scale-up requires attention to mass transfer, characterized by oxygen transfer rate (OTR) and the volumetric mass transfer coefficient (kLa).

Submerged culture is widely used for industrial fermentation and biotechnology, including production of antibiotics, enzymes, organic acids, amino acids, biofuels, and recombinant proteins. It is also used in basic laboratory research to study growth kinetics and metabolism.

Advantages include scalable operations, uniform nutrient exposure, and easier process monitoring. Limitations include sensitivity to oxygen transfer limitations at large scales, shear stress from agitation, foaming, and risk of contamination. Careful design of bioreactors and process control is required to optimize yield and product quality.