Development of a nanostabilized biocatalyst using an extremophilic microorganism for ribavirin biosynthesis

• Geobacillus kaustophilus ATCC 8005 was selected as the best strain to biosynthesize ribavirin.
• Thermophilic microorganism was successfully stabilized in bionanocomposites.
• Immobilized biocatalyst was able to maintain its operational stability during 580 h.
• Packed-bed reactor was developed, achieving 370 mg L−1 ribavirin in a continuous bioprocess.

Ribavirin is a guanosine analogue commonly used as an antiviral compound for the treatment of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. The biosynthesis of this compound using Geobacillus kaustophilus ATCC 8005 as biocatalyst is herein reported. This extremophilic microorganism has been successfully entrapped in an agarose matrix supplemented with bentonite, which was defined as bionanocomposite. This immobilized biocatalyst was stable for more than 580 h without activity loss, significantly improving operational stability and mechanical properties over the conventional agarose matrix.Furthermore, a packed-bed bioreactor for bioprocess scale-up was designed, which was able to produce 370 mg L−1 of ribavirin. In conclusion, a smooth, inexpensive and environmentally friendly method to obtain ribavirin was developed in this study.

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