Elemental Composition Of Biomass Research Articles

Physiological, biomass elemental composition and proteomic analyses of Escherichia coli ammonium-limited chemostat growth, and comparison with iron- and glucose-limited chemostat growth.

Escherichia coli physiological, biomass elemental composition and proteome acclimations to ammonium-limited chemostat growth were measured at four levels of nutrient scarcity controlled via chemostat dilution rate. These data were compared with published iron- and glucose-limited growth data collected from the same strain and at the same dilution rates to quantify general and nutrient-specific responses. Severe nutrient scarcity resulted in an overflow metabolism with differing organic byproduct profiles based on limiting nutrient and dilution rate. Ammonium-limited cultures secreted up to 35% of the metabolized glucose carbon as organic byproducts with acetate representing the largest fraction; in comparison, iron-limited cultures secreted up to 70 % of the metabolized glucose carbon as lactate, and glucose-limited cultures secreted up to 4% of the metabolized glucose carbon as formate. Biomass elemental composition differed with nutrient limitation; biomass from ammonium-limited cultures had a lower nitrogen content than biomass from either iron- or glucose-limited cultures. Proteomic analysis of central metabolism enzymes revealed that ammonium- and iron-limited cultures had a lower abundance of key tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle enzymes and higher abundance of key glycolysis enzymes compared with glucose-limited cultures. The overall results are largely consistent with cellular economics concepts, including metabolic tradeoff theory where the limiting nutrient is invested into essential pathways such as glycolysis instead of higher ATP-yielding, but non-essential, pathways such as the TCA cycle. The data provide a detailed insight into ecologically competitive metabolic strategies selected by evolution, templates for controlling metabolism for bioprocesses and a comprehensive dataset for validating in silico representations of metabolism.

Switchgrass Winter Yield, Year‐Round Elemental Concentrations, and Associated Soil Nutrients in a Zero Input Environment

The maximum biomass yield of switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) usually is achieved with one seasonal autumn harvest. However, information is limited on the influences of winter harvesting on annual biomass yield and on quality parameters impacting conversion into bioethanol. Accordingly, the objectives of this study were to assess: (i) yield of standing field cured biomass at monthly intervals through winter, (ii) year‐round elemental composition of biomass, and (iii) associated year‐round soil nutrient status. An unfertilized ‘Kanlow’ switchgrass planting established in 1998 was used for this study conducted from November 2007 to October 2010. The experimental treatment was monthly harvest from November to the following March and year‐round monthly sampling of biomass (except April) and soil for chemical analyses. The 3‐yr mean dry matter yield of winter harvests was 5.94Mg ha−1, ranging from 3.88 Mg ha−1 in the winter of 2007–2008 to 7.55 Mg ha−1 in 2009–2010. Monthly biomass yield differences were significant in Years 1 and 3 but not in Year 2. Concentrations of biomass elements and soil nutrients changed with various degrees over the 3 yr. Concentrations of ash, cell wall components, and mineral nutrients, except P, K, and S, did not change appreciably across winter months. Early winter harvests resulted in less yield loss compared to late winter harvests. These findings will be valuable in harvest management for switchgrass biomass production.

Variable Stoichiometry and Homeostatic Regulation of Bacterial Biomass Elemental Composition

Prokaryotic heterotrophs (hereafter, bacteria) represent a large proportion of global biomass, and therefore bacterial biomass stoichiometry likely exerts control on global phosphorus (P), carbon (C), and nitrogen cycling and primary productivity. In this study we grew recently isolated freshwater heterotrophic bacteria across an ecologically relevant range of resource C:P ratios (organic C to P ratio in available resources) to quantify the P requirements of these organisms and examine the degree to which they regulated their P content under P-sufficient and P-deficient conditions. Bacterial biomass was only limited by P when resource C:P was greater than 250 (by atoms). Bacterial C:P ranged from 71 to 174 under P sufficiency and from 252 to 548 under P deficiency. Bacteria exhibited very little C:P homeostasis under P-sufficient growth conditions, greater C:P homeostasis under P-deficient conditions, and the ability of bacteria to outcompete one another in short-term experiments depended on a tradeoff between storing excess P for later use under P-deficient conditions or immediately using P to produce more biomass. These results indicate that freshwater heterotrophic bacteria are not as P-rich as previously thought and that homeostatic regulation of C:P stoichiometry depends on the individual taxa and what resource (organic C or available P) is limiting bacterial growth. Individual bacterial populations can vary between strong C:P homeostasis under P deficiency to virtually no C:P homeostasis under P sufficiency, but variation between taxa and the effect this has on competitive ability may dampen the signal in C:PB at the bacterial community level. Nevertheless, the prevalence of homeostatic and non-homeostatic strategies in a bacterial community should have important implications for nutrient regeneration and carbon cycling.

Energy efficiency evaluation of lipid production by oleaginous yeast Rhodosporidium toruloides

Mass–energy balance of lipid fermentation by oleaginous yeast Rhodosporidium toruloides Y4 with glucose as sole carbon source was investigated. The elemental composition of the freeze-dried cell samples obtained at different time points was determined using a Vario EL3 analyzer to estimate the biomass energetic yield (η). Then this work established the biomass energetic yield (η) to sets of biochemical variables and a new equation was developed to determine η without elemental composition of biomass. Biomass energetic yield estimated by the new equation was highly in accordance with that based on elemental composition. Bomb-calorimetric measurements were shown to be a direct method of quantifying the energy content of oleaginous yeasts. Combustion heat (Q c) of biomass determined experimentally was in consistent with those calculated according to its elementary contents. The relationship between lipid content and Q c of the cells was simulated and a new practical equation was developed based on lipid content (Y L/S) to evaluate Q c of biomass. Biomass energetic yield of R. toruloides Y4 could reach higher than 0.8. Combustion heat of biomass obtained after 116 h was 33 (kJ g−1) that was about 73% of the combustion heat of diesel. The results revealed that R. toruloides Y4 was an efficient “energy-converter” in lipid production with glucose as the substrate. The results also implied the approaches to estimating η of fermentation, and Q c of single oil cells developed in this study should be valuable to address the overall techno-economical analysis of bio-energy production.

A New Method for Estimating the Composition of Biomass and Plastics Mixture by Combining Pyrolytic and Calorimetric Analyses

A new method has been presented by which the contents and elemental composition of biomass and plastics in the wastes is quantitatively determined. A new two-stage pyrolyzer was proposed to determine simply the contents of biomass and each plastic from the gas analysis during the pyrolysis of mixture under no interaction state. It was found that the contents of polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, and biomass is determined from the ethane, propylene, C4 compounds, and CO2 yields, respectively. Next, a new method has been proposed to determine the elemental composition of each component by combining CHO diagram and the calorimetric value of the mixture. The estimated values were coincided with the real values within 10 % error. Thus, it was clarified the proposed method is valid for estimating the quality of waste materials to stably operate the treatment process of wastes such as combustion, pyrolysis, gasification etc.

A correlation for calculating elemental composition from proximate analysis of biomass materials

Elemental composition of biomass is an important property, which defines the energy content and determines the clean and efficient use of the biomass materials. However, the ultimate analysis requires very expensive equipments and highly trained analysts. The proximate analysis on the other hand only requires standard laboratory equipments and can be run by any competent scientist or engineer. This work introduces a general correlation, based on proximate analysis of biomass materials, to calculate elemental composition, derived using 200 data points and validated further for additional 50 data points. The entire spectrum of solid lignocellulosic materials have been considered in the derivation of the present correlation, which is given as: C = 0.637FC + 0.455VM, H = 0.052FC + 0.062VM, O = 0.304FC + 0.476VM, where FC – 4.7–38.4% fixed carbon, VM – 57.2–90.6% volatile matter, C – 36.2–53.1% carbon, H – 4.36–8.3% hydrogen and O – 31.37–49.5% oxygen in wt% on a dry basis. The average absolute error of these correlations are 3.21%, 4.79%, 3.4% and bias error of 0.21%, −0.15% and 0.49% with respect to measured values C, H and O, respectively. The major advantage of these correlations is their capability to compute elemental components of biomass materials from the simple proximate analysis and thereby provides a useful tool for the modeling of combustion, gasification and pyrolysis processes.

Effect of mineral nutrients on cell growth and self-flocculation of Tolypothrix tenuis for the production of a biofertilizer

The influence of mineral nutrients on the growth and self-flocculation of Tolypothrix tenuis was studied. The identification of possible limiting nutrients in the culture medium was performed by the biomass elemental composition approach. A factorial experimental design was used in order to estimate the contribution of macronutrients and micronutrients, as well as their interactions. Iron was identified to be limiting in the culture medium. The micronutrients influenced mainly cellular growth without effects on self-flocculation. Conversely, the self-flocculation capacity of the biomass increased at higher concentrations of macronutrients. The optimization of mineral nutrition of T. tenuis allowed a 73% increase in the final biomass level and 3.5 times higher flocculation rates.

The calorimetric-respirometric ratio is an on-line marker of enthalpy efficiency of yeast cells growing on a non-fermentable carbon source

Although on-line calorimetry has been widely used to detect transitions in global metabolic activity during the growth of microorganisms, the relationships between oxygen consumption flux and heat production are poorly documented. In this work, we developed a respirometric and calorimetric approach to determine the enthalpy efficiency of respiration-linked energy transformation of isolated yeast mitochondria and yeast cells under growing and resting conditions. On isolated mitochondria, the analysis of different phosphorylating and non-phosphorylating steady states clearly showed that the simultaneous measurements of heat production and oxygen consumption rates can lead to the determination of both the enthalpy efficiency and the ATP/O yield of oxidative phosphorylation. However, these determinations were made possible only when the net enthalpy change associated with the phosphorylating system was different from zero. On whole yeast cells, it is shown that the simultaneous steady state measurements of the heat production and oxygen consumption rates allow the enthalpy growth efficiency (i.e. the amount of energy conserved as biomass compared to the energy utilised for complete catabolism plus anabolism) to be assessed. This method is based on the comparison between the calorimetric-respirometric ratio (CR ratio) determined under growth versus resting conditions during a purely aerobic metabolism. Therefore, in contrast to the enthalpy balance approach, this method does not rely on the exhaustive and tedious determinations of the metabolites and elemental composition of biomass. Thus, experiments can be performed in the presence of non-limiting amounts of carbon substrate, an approach which has been successfully applied to slow growing cells such as yeast cells expressing wild-type or a mutant rat uncoupling protein-1.

Misconceptions About the Relation Between Plant Growth and Respiration

Abstract: The relation between plant growth rate and respiration rate is readily derived from the overall chemical reaction for aerobic metabolism. The derived relation can be used to show that separation of respiration into growth (g) and maintenance (m) components is not a useful concept. g and m cannot be unambiguously measured or defined in terms of biochemical processes. Moreover, because growth yield calculations from biochemical pathway analysis, from biomass molecular composition, from biomass heat of combustion, and from biomass elemental composition have not included all of the energy costs for biosynthesis, they are not accurate measures of the carbon cost for plant growth. Improper definitions of growth‐respiration relations are impeding the use of physiological properties for prediction of plant growth as a function of environmental variables.

From potential to reality: Yeasts derived from ethanol production for animal nutrition

The high costs of cereals and vegetable protein supplements used for animal nutrition have directed much attention toward non-conventional alternative protein sources. Brazil has a significant potential to provide such material, since it is the world’s largest producer of ethanol (13 billion liters per year) derived from fermentation by yeasts (sugar cane being the basic raw material). Distilleries are recovering surplus yeast to produce dry yeast for use in animal food formulations. With regard to the yeast biomass elemental composition, INAA analyses performed on a pool of samples from various different fermentations have shown the presence of various trace elements, e. g. As, Br, Ca, Ce, Co, Cr, Cs, Eu, Fe, Hf, K, La, Na, Rb, Sc, Sm, Th, and Zn. This reinforces the need for additional studies concerning the suitability of yeast in terms of maximum tolerable levels of these elements in formulations for domestic animals.

Growth and elemental composition (C, N, H) in larvae and early juveniles of a South American salt marsh crab, Chasmagnathus granulata (Decapoda: Grapsidae)

The semiterrestrial grapsid crab Chasmagnathus granulataDana is one of the most predominant inhabitants of brackish salt marsh ecosystems in South America. Its early postembryonic stages were reared in the laboratory from hatching of the first larval stage through the first juvenile crab instar, and changes in the quantity and elemental composition of biomass (measured as dry weight, W; carbon, C; nitrogen, N; hydrogen, H) were investigated in short intervals of time (every 1 or 2 d). In a series of successive developmental stages, the accumulation of biomass per individual can be described as an exponential function of the number of moults. In contrast, the pattern of growth within individual moulting cycles is described with best fit of observed and predicted data as a quadratic function of development time elapsed since last ecdysis. Weight-specific instantaneous growth rates show decreasing trends within the moulting cycle. Cumulative biomass increments during larval development of C. granulata are among the highest on record for brachyuran crabs. The quantities and patterns of larval growth are in this species similar as in most marine brachyuran crabs, for which data are available, but different from those in some other semiterrestrial grapsid crab species, which live in similar brackish water habitats as C. granulata. Hence, the early postembryonic stages of C. granulatado not show special bioenergetic adaptations to the non-marine conditions, which prevail in the adult habitat of this species. This reflects a strategy of larval export to the sea, i.e. a reproductive dependence of this species on the marine environment.

Elemental Composition of Biomass and its Relation to Energy Content, Growth Efficiency, and Growth Yield*

Elemental Composition of Biomass and its Relation to Energy Content, Growth Efficiency, and Growth Yield*

Biomass elemental composition and energy content

Biotechnology and BioengineeringVolume 22, Issue 2 p. 451-456 Communications to the EditorFree Access Biomass elemental composition and energy content L. E. Erickson, L. E. Erickson Department of Chemical Engineering, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas 66506Search for more papers by this author L. E. Erickson, L. E. Erickson Department of Chemical Engineering, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas 66506Search for more papers by this author First published: February 1980 https://doi.org/10.1002/bit.260220215Citations: 36AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat References 1 K. P. Ho and W. J. Payne, Biotechnol. Bioeng., 21, 787 (1979). 2 L. E. Erickson, I. G. Minkevich, and V. K. Eroshin, Biotechnol. Bioeng., 20, 1595 (1978). 3 L. E. Erickson, I. G. Minkevich, and V. K. Eroshin, Biotechnol. Bioeng., 21, 575 (1979). 4 L. E. Erickson, Biotechnol. Bioeng., 21, 725 (1979). 5 L. E. Erickson, Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci., 326, 73 (1979). 6 A. Ferrer and L. E. Erickson, Biotechnol. Bioeng., in press (1979). 7 A. Ferrer and L. E. Erickson, Biotechnol. Bioeng., in press (1979). 8 I. G. Minkevich, V. K. Eroshin, T. A. Alekseeva, and A. P. Tereshchenko, Mikrobiol. Promst., 2(144), 1 (1977) [in Russian]. 9 I. G. Minkevich and V. K. Eroshin, Folia Microbiol., 18, 376 (1973). 10 D. Herbert, in Continuous Culture 6: Applications and New Fields, A. C. R. Dean et al. Ed. (Wiley, New York, 1976), p. 1. 11 M. S. Kharasch, J. Res. Bur. Nat. Stand., 2, 359 (1929). 12 M. S. Kharasch and B. Sher, J. Phys. Chem., 29, 625 (1925). 13 A. H. Stouthamer, in Microbial Energetics, (Symposium of the Society for General Microbiology), B. A. Haddock and W. A. Hamilton, Eds. (Cambridge U.P., Cambridge, England, 1977), Vol. 27, p. 285. 14 L. E. Erickson and B. O. Solomon, “ Modeling and analysis of microbial energetics,” in US-USSR Symposium on Fundamentals of Microbial Processes (MIT, Cambridge, MA, 1979). Citing Literature Volume22, Issue2February 1980Pages 451-456 ReferencesRelatedInformation