An industrial microbe should be easy to grow. Requiring only simple growth media and conditions, the cost of the fermentation is reduced. This could be a cheap growth media with no complex nutrient or mineral requirements, as well as obtainable conditions – a low temperature and atmospheric pressures.
Industrial microbes need to be able to produce the product of interest in high quantities, giving a high yield of the fermentation. Secreting the product into the growth media can make it easier to extract the product, simplifying the fermentation.
Using a microbe that is genetically stable, and able to be stocked, is important in industrial fermentations. Not having a high mutation rate is a highly desirable characteristic, ensuring the product of interest is produced as desired throughout the entire fermentation. Stocking bacteria is useful, enabling the engineered strain to be kept for long periods of time – especially useful in batch fermentations.
Using a microbe that doesn’t produce toxins, and isn’t pathogenic, is beneficial. This reduces the complexity in maintaining a safe fermentation.
The ability to grow the microbe in a large bioreactor is useful, exploiting the economies of scale. Some microorganisms have not yet had their growth demonstrated in large vessels, and so may be more challenging to use industrially.
These properties contribute towards a successful fermentation process by allowing large-scale, affordable fermentation reactions to be carried out. This is important in producing biological molecules, such as lysine and other nutrients (at prices that are accessible to the end customer).