Simulation of the growth pattern of a single cell of Escherichia coli under anaerobic conditions

Abstract

A computer model based on a previous model for aerobic growth of Escherichia coli is described which simulates cell composition, size, and shape; length of C and D periods; cell yields; and the rate of product formation of anaerobically grown cells of E. coli B/r-A on glucose-limited minimal medium. To verify the simulation results, the values of cell volume, cell content of DNA, RNA, and protein, substrate yield, ATP yield, and fermentation products for various growth rates were obtained experimentally. Model predictions are in good agreement with experimental results. Such agreement supports a hypothesis that only those equations describing energy metabolism need to be modified and other cell functions are not grossly altered by a switch from aerobic to an aerobic growth. The model's ability to predict reasonable growth responses under anaerobic conditions by only modifying energy metabolism is a further indication of the robust nature of the description of cell physiology included in the development of the aerobic model.

Application of Reactive Transport Modeling to Growth and Transport of Microorganisms in the Capillary Fringe

“…Under anaerobic conditions, bacteria use a mixed acid fermentation (instead of respiration) to gain energy for growth (Stokes, 1949; Paege and Gibbs, 1961), thus the growth is slower and the yield coefficient decreases. According to our results, a yield of 0.163 g dry weight g −1 consumed DOC was determined, which is close to the anaerobic yield coefficient of 0.18 g dry weight g −1 glucose that Ataai and Shuler (1985) found for some other strains of E. coli .…”

Development of Bioreaction Engineering

“…), the precursors of the secondary metabolites, NAD(P)H, RNA, DNA, proteins, and cell morphology [130,257]. The heat generated by the microorganisms [258][259][260][261][262][263] and the intracellular enzyme activities and metabolites [264][265][266][267][268][269] are monitored as well. In special cases, the intracellular enzyme activities were measured on-line [270][271][272][273][274].…”

Development of Cell Models as a Basis for Bioreactor Design for Genetically Modified Bacteria

“…Several experimental studies have documented plasmid instability [2][3][4][5][6]. Theoretical studies [7,8] have shown that even for batch fermentation on a large-scale those cells losing the plasmid can outgrow the plasmid containing cells leading to a non-productive culture.…”