Bacterial cellulose production by Acetobacter xylinum in a 50-L internal-loop airlift reactor

• Published in: Biotechnology and bioengineering Vol. 68; no. 3; pp. 345 - 352
• Main Authors: Chao, Yaping, Ishida, Takehiko, Sugano, Yasushi, Shoda, Makoto
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York John Wiley & Sons, Inc 05.05.2000; Wiley
• Subjects: Acetobacter; Air; airlift reactor; bacterial cellulose; BC pellet; Biological and medical sciences; Bioreactors; Biotechnology; Biotechnology - instrumentation; Biotechnology - methods; Carbon - metabolism; Cellulose - biosynthesis; Energy Metabolism; Fermentation; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gluconacetobacter xylinus - metabolism; Methods. Procedures. Technologies; Microbial engineering. Fermentation and microbial culture technology; Oxygen - metabolism; oxygen-enriched gas; Acetobacteraceae; Pellet; Airlift reactor; Oxygen; Aerobiosis; Mixing time; Cellulose; Oxygen transfer; Bioreactor; Acetobacter xylinum; Production rate; Batchwise; Microorganism culture; Bacteria
• ISSN: 0006-3592; 1097-0290
• DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1097-0290(20000505)68:3<345::AID-BIT13>3.0.CO;2-M

Bacterial cellulose (BC) production was realized in a batch cultivation of Acetobacter xylinum subsp. sucrofermentans BPR2001 in a 50‐L internal‐loop airlift reactor. When the bacterium was cultivated with air supply, 3.8 g/L of BC was produced after 67 hours. When oxygen‐enriched gas was supplied, the concentration of BC was doubled and the production rate of BC was 0.116 g/L · h, which was two times higher than that of air‐supplied culture and comparable to that in a mechanically agitated stirred‐tank fermentor. Bacterial cellulose produced by the airlift reactor formed a unique ellipse pellet (BC pellet), different from the fibrous form which was produced in an agitated stirred‐tank fermentor. The BC‐pellet suspension was demonstrated to have a higher volumetric oxygen transfer coefficient than the fibrous BC suspension in a 50‐L internal‐loop airlift reactor. The mixing time of BC‐pellet suspension in the airlift reactor was also shorter than that in water. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Biotechnol Bioeng 68: 345–352, 2000.