Influence of metabolic end-products on the growth efficiency of Klebsiella aerogenes in anaerobic chemostat culture.

Progressively increasing the input concentration of growth-limiting nutrient (glucose, ammonia, K+) to anaerobic chemostat cultures of Klebsiella aerogenes (D = 0.38 h-1; 35 degrees C; pH 6.8) led to a non-linear increase in bacterial cell concentration. At modest population densities, residual growth-limiting substrate levels increased substantially, with increasing input concentration, and the culture bacterial dry weight tended to a constant value. With the glucose-limited culture, increasing the glucose input concentration above 20 g X 1(-1) led to accumulation of unused glucose and a change in the fermentation pattern. There was a concomitant lowering of the yield value with respect to glucose consumption, and the calculated YATP value similarly declined. Addition of extra essential (non-limiting) nutrients to the culture was without effect. Similarly, addition of individual fermentation products (acetate, ethanol, D-lactate, 2,3-butanediol, succinate) to the feed medium, in varying concentrations and in different combinations, failed to influence the fermentation pattern or the energetics of cell synthesis. However, a clear correlation was observed between the yield values (of both glucose- and K+-limited cultures) and the steady state concentration of CO2 in the effluent gas. Increasing the concentration CO2 either by increasing the population density or lowering the sparging rate of nitrogen gas through the culture, effected a lowering of the yield values. It is suggested that dissolved CO2 exerts an effect on both metabolism and the energetics of cell synthesis. A possible mechanism of energy dissipation (i.e., a futile cycle) involving carboxylation and decarboxylation reactions is proposed.