BACKGROUND Continuous culture devices can be used for various purposes such as establishing reproducible growth conditions or maintaining cell populations under a constant environment for long periods. However, commercially available instruments are expensive, were not designed to handle small volumes in the milliliter range, and can lack the flexibility required for the diverse experimental ne...

A two-stage continuous cultivation experiment with Clostridium beijerinckii NRRL B592 is described. The experiment was designed to mimic the two phases of batch culture growth of the organism in a two-stage continuous process. Thus in the first stage turbidostat the organism was grown acidogenically as rapidly as possible, and transferred to the second stage at the 'acid break point'. The secon...

Small-scale photobioreactors for cultivation of photoautotrophic microbes are required for precise characterization of the growth parameters of wild-type and engineered strains of these organisms, for their screening, and for optimization of culture conditions. Here, we describe the design and use of a flat-cuvette photobioreactor that allows accurate control of culture irradiance, temperature,...

A dynamic numerical model was developed to predict the biomass concentration, pH, and carbon dioxide fixation rate in the continuous culture of cyanobacteria in a photobioreactor. The model is based on the growth rate equation of microalgae combined with mass transfer equations for gas and liquid phases in the photobioreactor as well as thermodynamic equilibrium of inorganic carbon ions in the ...

To assess the mechanisms of photoprotection in T. lutea, two clonal strains with different basal pigments composition were studied. One synthesized echinenone, while other did not but showed a high amount diadinoxanthin and diatoxanthin. We investigated photosynthetic response these turbidostat, at growth culture irradiances from 50 to 550 μmol photons m2 s−1. this end, variable chlorophyll flu...

BACKGROUND Complete conversion of the major sugars of biomass including both the C5 and C6 sugars is critical for biofuel production processes. Several inhibitory compounds like acetate, hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), and furfural are produced from the biomass pretreatment process leading to 'hydrolysate toxicity,' a major problem for microorganisms to achieve complete sugar utilization. Therefor...