Abstract
A low-cost μBR (microbioreactor) made from PTFE [poly(tetrafluoroethylene)] was used to cultivate a model organism, Pseudomonas aeruginosa DS10-129. The progress of bioprocessing was monitored by comparing the growth of the organism in a μBR, a conventional bench scale bioreactor and a shake flask. Under the μBR conditions, the organism produced 23 mg/ml of pyocyanin that had antimicrobial effects against Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Pseudomonas teessidea and Pseudomonas clemancea. Furthermore, it produced a total of 106 μg/ml of effective biosurfactants consisting of dirhamnolipids (RL2) and monorhamnolipids (RL1). The biosurfactants reduced the surface tension of distilled water from 72 to 27.9 mN/m and emulsified kerosene by 71.30%. The pyocyanin and rhamnolipids were produced during the exponential and stationary phases of growth respectively. The results of the μBR were comparable to those obtained using conventional scale methods.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 45-52 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Biotechnology and Applied Biochemistry |
| Volume | 55 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 23 Feb 2010 |