# US 11,439,172 B2 · Microbial biomass based feed products

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- Number: US 11,439,172 B2
- Document ID: US11439172B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 15/641,114
- Filed: 2017-07-03
- Published: 2019-01-03
- Granted: 2022-09-13
- Earliest claimed: 2017-07-03
- Assignees: Oakbio, Inc.
- Applicants: Oakbio, Inc.
- Inventors: Brian A Sefton; William J Coleman
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11439172B2

## CPC

- A23K 10/18: of live microorganisms
- A23L 33/135: Bacteria or derivatives thereof, e.g. probiotics
- A23J 1/008: {from microorganisms (A23J1/18 takes precedence)}
- A23K 10/16: Addition of microorganisms or extracts thereof, e.g. single-cell proteins, to feeding-stuff compositions (A23K10/12 takes precedence)
- A23K 20/10: Organic substances
- A23K 20/147: Polymeric derivatives, e.g. peptides or proteins
- A23K 20/174: Vitamins
- A23K 20/179: Colouring agents, e.g. pigmenting or dyeing agents
- A23K 50/80: for aquatic animals, e.g. fish, crustaceans or molluscs
- C12M 29/20: {Degassing; Venting; Bubble traps (means for collection or storage of gas C12M23/36; gas collection apparatus for laboratory use B01L5/02)}
- C12N 1/20: Bacteria; Culture media therefor
- A23V 2002/00: Food compositions, function of food ingredients or processes for food or foodstuffs
- A23K: FODDER
- A23L: FOODS, FOODSTUFFS OR NON-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; PREPARATION OR TREATMENT THEREOF (preservation thereof A23B)
- A23J: PROTEIN COMPOSITIONS FOR FOODSTUFFS; WORKING-UP PROTEINS FOR FOODSTUFFS; PHOSPHATIDE COMPOSITIONS FOR FOODSTUFFS
- C12M: APPARATUS FOR ENZYMOLOGY OR MICROBIOLOGY; {APPARATUS FOR CULTURING MICROORGANISMS FOR PRODUCING BIOMASS, FOR GROWING CELLS OR FOR OBTAINING FERMENTATION OR METABOLIC PRODUCTS, i.e. BIOREACTORS OR FERMENTERS}
- C12N: MICROORGANISMS OR ENZYMES; COMPOSITIONS THEREOF; PROPAGATING, PRESERVING, OR MAINTAINING MICROORGANISMS; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING; CULTURE MEDIA (microbiological testing media C12Q1/00)
- A23V: INDEXING SCHEME RELATING TO FOODS, FOODSTUFFS OR NON-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES AND LACTIC OR PROPIONIC ACID BACTERIA USED IN FOODSTUFFS OR FOOD PREPARATION

## Abstract

Aquafeed, animal feed, and other food products, as well as nutritional and pharmaceutical compounds, chemicals and biomaterials are important commodities that can be produced at commercial scale by fermentation of microorganisms. The present invention provides a method for producing these valuable multi-carbon compounds from simple gas feedstocks, such as carbon dioxide, hydrogen and oxygen, by cultivating a consortium of microbial cells specially selected for this purpose in an aqueous culture medium. In addition to exploiting inexpensive feedstocks, such as waste industrial gas for this cultivation, the platform described herein also provides the advantage of removing carbon dioxide and other waste gases from industrial emissions, which would otherwise contribute to global climate change. Furthermore, the cultivation of a microbial consortium can provide highly nutritious components to a feed blend that might not be available from a monoculture.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method comprising:
providing a consortium of chemoautotrophic and photoautotrophic bacteria and heterotrophic microbes within a system, the system including a fermentation vessel filled with an aqueous medium comprising the consortium, the fermentation vessel having an input port into which gaseous substrates are introduced into the aqueous medium, the fermentation vessel further having an exhaust port through which gases exit the fermentation vessel, wherein the aqueous medium comprises inorganic anions and inorganic cations, and wherein the aqueous medium contains a concentration of no more than 0.05% of each of added sugars, yeast extract, tryptone, and organic carbon compounds, the consortium including
chemoautotrophic bacteria from the genera Cupriavidus, Rhodococcus, or Methylococcus,
photoautotrophic bacteria from the genera Rhodobacter, Rhodospirillum, Rhodopseudomonas, or Arthrospira, and
heterotrophic microbes from the genera of Bacillus, Bacteroides, Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus, Lactococcus, Leuconostoc, Acidilactici, Pediococcus, Propionibacterium, or Streptococcus;
introducing a first gaseous substrate into the input port, the first gaseous substrate including carbon dioxide;
introducing a second gaseous substrate into the aqueous medium, the second gaseous substrate including predominantly hydrogen gas (H2), wherein either of the first or second substrates additionally includes oxygen gas (O2), wherein a volume ratio of H2 in the second gaseous substrate to CO2 in the first gaseous substrate is in the range of 1:1 to 8:1; and
harvesting cells of the bacteria from the system to generate a biomass product that has enhanced nutritional value compared to the biomass that the same chemoautotrophic bacteria would produce if grown alone.