Growth Dynamics of Bacterial Populations in a Two-Compartment Biofilm Bioreactor Designed for Continuous Surfactin Biosynthesis

oleh: Hannah Luise Brück, François Coutte, Pascal Dhulster, Sébastien Gofflot, Philippe Jacques, Frank Delvigne

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2020-05-01

Deskripsi

Biofilm bioreactors are promising systems for continuous biosurfactant production since they provide process stability through cell immobilization and avoid foam formation. In this work, a two-compartment biofilm bioreactor was designed consisting of a stirred tank reactor and a trickle-bed reactor containing a structured metal packing for biofilm formation. A strong and poor biofilm forming <i>B. subtilis</i> 168 strain due to restored exopolysaccharides (EPS) production or not were cultivated in the system to study the growth behavior of the planktonic and biofilm population for the establishment of a growth model. A high dilution rate was used in order to promote biofilm formation on the packing and wash out unwanted planktonic cells. Biofilm development kinetics on the packing were assessed through a total organic carbon mass balance. The EPS<sup>+</sup> strain showed a significantly improved performance in terms of adhesion capacity and surfactin production. The mean surfactin productivity of the EPS<sup>+</sup> strain was about 37% higher during the continuous cultivation compared to the EPS<sup>-</sup> strain. The substrate consumption together with the planktonic cell and biofilm development were properly predicted by the model (α = 0.05). The results show the efficiency of the biofilm bioreactor for continuous surfactin production using an EPS producing strain.