A structured kinetic model for Zymomonas mobilis ATCC10988

Abstract

The inhibitory effects of glucose and ethanol on Zymomonas mobilis ATCC10988 were isolated through kinetic analysis of transient batch fermentation data. Growth of Z. mobilis was inhibited above a glucose concentration of 80 g/L. Growth was mildly inhibited by ethanol to 50 g/L, and severely inhibited above this concentration. Specific rates of ethanol production and glucose uptake were essentially invariant during batch fermentation. A structured kinetic model was developed, by way of augmentation of the Extended Bottleneck model, to quantify the kinetics of the growth and product formation processes. The model successfully describes the transient batch fermentation of Z. mobilis over a wide range of initial glucose concentration in a semidefined medium.