Inoculum effects on fungal morphology: Shake flasks vs agitated bioreactors

Image analysis has been used to investigate the effect of spore inoculum concentration on the subsequent morphology of Penicillium chrysogenum grown in both shake flasks and a 6L agitated bioreactor. Even with the same inoculum concentration, differences were found between the two systems in the eventual morphology of both the freely dispersed mycelia and the mycelial aggregates or “clumps”.