A microbial population dynamics model for the Acetone-Butanol-Ethanol
fermentation process
Abstract
Transient product spectrum during batch Acetone-Butanol-Ethanol
fermentation is known to evolve in response to pH-dependent Clostridium
acetobutylicum metabolic variations. Although previous works have
evidenced the coexistence of distinct cell subpopulations, this culture
heterogeneity has been neglected in ABE modeling to date. Here, a
dynamic model for ABE fermentation based on bacterial population
dynamics was developed under the hypothesis of the existence of a
specific solventogenic phenotype. By proposing a simplified metabolic
network, the metabolic switches are described, triggered by the partial
conversion of acid vegetative cells into solventogenic and sporulating
subpopulations. The proposed model succeeds in adequately describing the
evolution of all extracellular metabolites in a batch culture both at
free and controlled pH. Since the model is controlled by cell population
dynamics with no time dependent variable it can be directly applied to
alternative flow (e.g. continuous) regimes allowing for its application
to a broader range of operating conditions.