A plastic surgery service response to COVID-19 in one of the largest teaching hospitals in Europe.

COVID-19 is presenting a colossal challenge to frontline NHS staff. This paper highlights how plastic surgery teams can use their diverse skills and resources in times of crisis. Through effective strategy and leadership we present how we are adapting as a department to serve our plastic surgery patients, other hospital teams and the Trust.

Hetero-azeotropic distillation: combining fungal dehydration and lipid extraction.

A low-cost single-stage laboratory process combining fungal dehydration and lipid extraction was compared with a traditional two-stage method employing freeze-drying and subsequent mechanical disruption in the presence of solvent. The ability of a number of organic solvents to form hetero-azeotropes with water was exploited. Chloroform, cyclohexane and hexane were assessed in their abilities to both dry and extract lipid from the oleaginous phycomycete Mortierella alpina (ATCC 32222). Drying rate and lipid extraction were maximised under conditions that prevented fungal agglomeration. The total processing time was limited by the rate of dehydration rather than by the rate of lipid extraction. In all cases azeotropic distillation facilitated a greater rate of dehydration than was possible with freeze-drying. A consequent reduction in overall processing time was observed. Uniquely, both the solvent used and the mode of mixing employed controlled the morphology of the aggregates formed during distillation. In combination with mild mixing chloroform discouraged agglomeration whereas cyclohexane and hexane promoted aggregation. Successful lipid extraction was dependent on the use of dry biomass rather than on the application of heat to effect distillation. Neither the application of heat nor the solvent employed had any significant effect on the lipid composition of the extracted oil.

Experimental verification of a mathematical model for pelleted growth of Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) in submerged batch culture.

A published mathematical model for growth of pellets of filamentous microorganisms has been tested by comparison of model predictions with experimental data on growth of Streptomyces coelicolor in liquid batch culture. The original model considered the classification of pellets into a range of size classes. Growth resulted in movement of pellets to classes of increasing size, while shear forces produced mycelial fragments which entered the smallest size class, from which they grew to form further pellets. This model did not correctly describe changes in pellet size distributions during growth and was therefore modified in two ways. In the first, new pellets were assumed to be formed by the break-up, by shear forces, of existing pellets into two pellets of equal size, rather than removal of small hyphal fragments from the pellet surface. The second modification assumed that the outer shell of active mycelial biomass had a density less than 1 g cm-3 and that hyphal density within this shell decreased with distance from the pellet centre. The modified model generated predictions which agreed closely with experimental data on biomass concentration, pellet size distribution, pellet number and pellet radius during batch growth, thereby supporting the assumptions on which the model was based. The model did not accurately describe final biomass concentration, through lack of consideration of autolysis of mycelia at the centre of larger pellets in which growth was limited by diffusion of nutrients. Attempts to incorporate autolysis into the model improved prediction of biomass concentration but were not based on sound biological assumptions and increased the complexity of the model. Further experimental work is required for accurate description of the effects of autolysis on pellet growth.

A mathematical model for the growth of mycelial pellet populations.

In liquid culture, filamentous organisms often grow in the form of pellets. Growth result in an increase in radius, whereas shear forces result in release of hyphal fragments which act as centers for further pellet growth and development. A previously published model for pellet growth of filamentous microorganisms has been examined and is found to be unstable for certain parameter values. This instability has been identified as being due to inaccuracies in estimating the numbers of fragments which seed the pellet population. A revised model has been formulated, based on similar premises, but adopting a finite element approach. This considers the population of pellets to be distributed in a range of size classes. Growth results in movement to classes of increasing pellet size, while fragments enter the smallest size class, from which they grow to form further pellets. The revised model is stable and predicts changes in the distribution of pellet sizes within a population growing in liquid batch culture. It considers pellet growth and death, with fragmentation providing new centers of growth within the pellet population, and predicts the effects of shear forces on pellet growth and size distribution. Predictions of pellet size distributions are tested using previously published data on the growth of fungal pellets and further predictions are generated which are suitable for experimental testing using cultures of filamentous fungi or actinomycetes.

Growth mechanisms and growth kinetics of filamentous microorganisms.

Filamentous microorganisms are of major biotechnological importance, being responsible for production of the majority of secondary metabolites, particularly antibiotics. Two main groups are involved, filamentous fungi and filamentous actinomycetes, particularly the streptomycetes. In terms of cellular growth mechanisms, these groups differ greatly. Eukaryotic fungi possess subcellular organelles and cytoskeletal structures directing growth while prokaryotic streptomycetes have no such cellular organization. Despite these fundamental differences, both groups exhibit similar morphologies, growth patterns, growth forms, and hyphal and mycelial growth kinetics on solid media and in liquid culture both grow as dispersed mycelia and pellets. The article therefore discusses the relationship between cellular growth mechanisms and vegetative growth in both filamentous fungi and actinomycetes, the conceptual and theoretical models applicable to both groups, and the significance of such models in industrial fermentation processes.