Researchers from the Chair of Nutrition and Immunology, ZIEL - Institute for Food and Health, and the Data Science in Systems Biology group at the Technical University of Munich (Germany) investigated how diet influences the development of the infant gut microbiome during the first year of life. While age was found to be the primary driver of microbiota assembly, formula composition influenced metabolite profiles and the development of bacterial circadian rhythms. Using the INFORS HT Multifors 2 bioreactor as an ex vivo gut chemostat model, the team confirmed that rhythmic behavior in dominant gut bacteria can be maintained under controlled laboratory conditions, providing new insights into the relationship between nutrition, microbiome development, and circadian biology.

Researchers have sequenced and characterized a novel thermophilic cyanobacterium isolated from a hot spring in Namibia, revealing how it adapts to extreme heat through temperature responsive protein expression. Cultivated using the INFORS HT Labfors bench-top bioreactor, the strain proposed to represent a new genus within the Thermosynechococcaceae family displayed distinct genomic and proteomic features linked to thermotolerance. These findings expand our understanding of extremophile adaptation and highlight promising targets for future bioengineering and high temperature biotechnological applications.

Researchers have demonstrated how Bacillus subtilis BS20 can be optimized as a potent biocontrol agent for agriculture by scaling up antifungal metabolite production. Using the INFORS HT Labfors bench-top bioreactor, the team developed a process model and validated scale-up from 1 L to 10 L fermentation, maintaining high antifungal activity with a zone of inhibition up to 65 mm. This study offers a scalable, sustainable alternative to chemical pesticides through microbial fermentation.

Researchers at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg developed and tested methods to improve the stability and recyclability of a PET-degrading enzyme for plastic recycling. Using the INFORS HT Labfors bioreactor, the team compared several immobilization strategies and found that pH-responsive polymers delivered the best results, retaining about 80% of enzyme activity and enabling up to five PET degradation cycles. In batch reactions, the process achieved more than 97% terephthalic acid yield in less than 14 hours for the first three cycles and about 78% yield in the fifth cycle. These findings support more efficient and scalable processes for enzymatic PET recycling.