skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Effects of cell entrapment in Ca-alginate on the metabolism of yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Miscellaneous ·
OSTI ID:7100900

Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells grown in suspension have been immobilized in calcium-alginate beads. Fermentation rates and intracellular composition have been determined under nongrowing conditions in these Ca-alginate entrapped cells and for identical cells in suspension. Glucose uptake and ethanol and glycerol production are approximately two times faster in immobilized cells than in suspended cells. Intermediate metabolite levels such as fructose-1,6-diphosphate, glucose-6-phosphate and 3-phosphoglycerate have been determined by phosphorus-31 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy under glucose fermenting conditions. Carbon-13 NMR shows an increase in polysaccharide production in immobilized cells. S. cerevisiae cells grown within a Ca-alginate matrix have a specific growth rate 40% lower than the growth rate of similar cells cultivated in suspension. Alginate-grown cells have been used to compare glucose fermentation under nongrowing conditions in suspended and Ca-entrapped cells. Fermentation rate is higher in immobilized cells than in suspended cells. The observed differences in intracellular components between suspended and immobilized cells are qualitatively similar to the differences observed for cells grown in suspension. Ethanol production rate is 2.7 times faster in immobilized alginate-grown cells than in suspended suspension-grown cells.

Research Organization:
California Inst. of Tech., Pasadena, CA (USA)
OSTI ID:
7100900
Resource Relation:
Other Information: Thesis (Ph. D.)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English