The Taming of the Shrew--Controlling the Morphology of Filamentous Eukaryotic and Prokaryotic Microorganisms.

One of the most sensitive process characteristics in the cultivation of filamentous biological systems is their complex morphology. In submerged cultures, the observed macroscopic morphology of filamentous microorganisms varies from freely dispersed mycelium to dense spherical pellets consisting of a more or less dense, branched and partially intertwined network of hyphae. Recently, the freely dispersed mycelium form has been in high demand for submerged cultivation because this morphology enhances the growth and production of several valuable products.