Journal article
Microchemostat - microbial continuous culture in a polymer-based, instrumented microbioreactor
In a chemostat, microbial cells reach a steady state condition at which cell biomass production, substrates and the product concentrations remain constant. These features make continuous culture a unique and powerful tool for biological and physiological research. We present a polymer-based microbioreactor system integrated with optical density (OD), pH, and dissolved oxygen (DO) real-time measurements for continuous cultivation of microbial cells.
Escherichia coli (E. coli) cells are continuously cultured in a 150 mL, membrane-aerated, well-mixed microbioreactor fed by a pressure-driven flow of fresh medium through a microchannel. Chemotaxisial back growth of bacterial cells into the medium feed channel is prevented by local heating. Using poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-grafted poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) copolymer films, the inner surfaces of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and poly(dimethylsiloxane) ( PDMS) of the microbioreactor are modified to generate bio-inert surfaces resistant to non-specific protein adsorption and cell adhesion.
The modified surfaces of microbioreactor effectively reduce wall growth of E. coli for a prolonged period of cultivation. Steady state conditions at different dilution rates are demonstrated and characterized by steady OD, pH, and DO levels.
Language: | English |
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Publisher: | The Royal Society of Chemistry |
Year: | 2006 |
Pages: | 906-913 |
ISSN: | 14730197 and 14730189 |
Types: | Journal article |
DOI: | 10.1039/b518396k |