Effects of rheological change by addition of carboxymethylcellulose in culture media of an air-lift fermentor on poly-D-3-hydroxybutyric acid productivity in autotrophic culture of hydrogen-oxidizing bacterium, Alcaligenes eutrophus.

The effects of rheological change by addition of sodium carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) to culture medium in an air-lift-type fermentor on autotrophic production of poly-(D-3-hydroxybutyric acid) [P(3HB)] by two-stage culture of Alcaligenes eutrophus is investigated. Addition of 0.05% CMC increased P(3HB) production rate during the P(3HB) accumulation phase to twice that of the control culture. It was thought that addition of a small amount of CMC was beneficial for production of P(3HB) employing the air-lift fermentor under safe autotrophic culture conditions in wich oxygen concentration was maintained below 6.9% (v/v). the volumetric mass transfer coefficient (K(L)a) observed in the presence of CMC is shown to correlated with the P(3HB) production rate obtained. (c) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Biotechnol Bioeng 53: 529-533, 1997.