Microbial biofilms: a concept for industrial catalysis?

Succinic acid-producing biofilms of Actinobacillus succinogenes: reproducibility, stability and productivity

“…A number of review papers recently highlighted the potential of single culture biofilm reactors for the production of speciality and bulk chemicals (Cheng et al 2010;Gross et al 2007;Qureshi et al 2005;Rosche et al 2009). The self-immobilisation nature of some microbial strains has the advantage that cell-retainment within a bioreactor can be achieved without any active cell-separation scheme.…”

“…The self-immobilisation nature of some microbial strains has the advantage that cell-retainment within a bioreactor can be achieved without any active cell-separation scheme. The result is that high volumetric productivities can be achieved at a relatively low bioreactor cost (Rosche et al 2009). This is of specific interest for bulk-scale continuous processes where the bioreactor cost is closely linked to the economic viability of the process.…”

Disruption of Putrescine Biosynthesis in Shewanella oneidensis Enhances Biofilm Cohesiveness and Performance in Cr(VI) Immobilization

“…However, controlling biofilm-based bioprocesses is very challenging because of the intrinsic heterogeneous and dynamic properties of biofilms (10,11). Previous studies have shown that either unfavorable environmental conditions (e.g., exposure to toxic contaminants) or variations in nutrient supply (e.g., dissolved O 2 availability) could cause cell dispersal from biofilms (12)(13)(14)(15), resulting in a decrease in the performance of the biofilm-based bioprocesses.…”

Development of corn silk as a biocarrier for <i>Zymomonas mobilis</i> biofilms in ethanol production from rice straw

“…Microbial biofilms have emerged as potential biocatalysts due to their natural immobilization, stability, and cell viability for many cycles of operations. They remain productive for several months, are cost effective, less affected by inhibitory compounds, and facilitate product recovery (Behera et al, 2010;Chandel et al, 2007;Cheng et al, 2010;Rosche et al, 2009). Other conventional immobilization substrates, such as calcium polyurethane foam, alginate, gelatin and κ-carrageenan, can cause productivity loss due to the toxicity and poor stability of the carrier (Kar et al, 2009).…”