Activity of synchronized cells of a steady-state biofilm recirculated reactor during xenobiotic biodegradation.

The maintenance of a steady-state biofilm in a continuous-flow fixed-bed reactor, as a consequence of the reproduction-detachment of cells (an interfacial cell physiology phenomenon of steady-state biofilm) during the biodegradation of 2,4,6-trichlorophenol by Pseudomonas cells, was determined. After cell adhesion on an open-pore glass support, the biofilm was formed in a packed-bed recirculated reactor. After the steady-state biofilm was reached, the mechanisms of the interfacial cell detachment (at the biofilm-liquid interface) were determined. It was established that (i) the hydrophobicity of immobilized sessile cells (parent cells) increased (from 50 to 80%) as the dilution rate increased, while the hydrophobicity of detached suspended cells (daughter cells) remained constant (about 45%); and (ii) the immediately detached suspended cells showed a synchronized growth in about three generations. These results indicate that (i) the immobilized sessile and suspended detached cells grew synchronically at the end and at the beginning of the cell cycle, respectively; and (ii) the hydrophobicity difference of immobilized sessile and suspended detached cells permitted the cells detachment. Therefore, it is probable that independent of shear stress (due to recirculated flow), the synchronized growth and hydrophobicity of cells (which vary during the cell cycle) are the main factors permitting the maintenance of a steady-state xenobiotic-degrading biofilm reactor (in which the overall accumulation of biofilm is determined by the average growth rate of the biofilm cells minus the rate of detachment of cells from the biofilm).