MICROBIAL:

GROWTH KINETICS &

METABOLITES
-In Batch System-

GROWTH KINETICS

deals with the rate of cell growth

important for the design and operation of
fermentation systems employing them

An ideal culture for fermentation should (be):

1. pure.
2. grow and reproduce quickly.
3. genetically stable yet easy to manipulation for
better performance.
4. produce uniform product in a short time.
5. not produce undesirable by-products.
6. have a protective mechanism against other
undesirable contaminants.

BATCH SYSTEM

close system, without any inlet or outlet

streams
nutrients are fixed amount limited
The inocula are transferred, then
gradually grow and replicate
As the cell propagates, the nutrients are
depleted and end products are formed
Main stages of a growth curve: lag,
exponential, stationary & death phases

Cell growth curve

this description refers to

the behaviour of both
unicellular and mycelial
(filamentous) organisms in
batch culture

The growth of mycelial

resulting in the exponential
addition of viable biomass
to the mycelial body rather
than the production of
separate, discrete unicells.

Lag phase

the cell number does not increase

the cells may grow in size
duration of time for adaptation of
microorganisms to the new environment,
without much cell replication and with no sign
of growth.
shock to the environment when there is no
acclimation period

Length of lag phase inoculum (concentration, type,

age), medium composition, fermentation conditions

i) size of the inoculum

If a small amount of cells are inoculated into a large
volume a long lag phase.
ii) medium
Transfer microorganisms from a low nutrient to high
concentration long lag period, because the cells
must produce the enzymes necessary for
themetabolization of the available nutrients.
If they are moved from ahigh to a low nutrient
concentration short lag phase

Short lag phase

Excessive lag phase unproductive
Minimize lag phase period:
1. the composition of the medium and the
environmental conditions in the seed culture and
the production vessel are identical
2. the dilution shock is small (i.e. a large amount of
inoculum is used)
3. the cells in the inoculum are in the late
exponential phase of growth.

Exponential phase
The stages:
i) Accelerated growth phase: The cell number starts to

increase and the division rate increases to reach a

maximum sometimes included as part of lag phase
ii) Exponential growth phase: The cell number increases
exponentially as the cells start to divide
Plotting the linear increase growth in semi-log graph
shown a constant slope
Slope representing a constant rate of cell population
ii) Decelerated growth phase: After the growth rate
reaches a maximum, it is followed by the deceleration
of both growth rate and the division rate
Primary metabolism products in tropophase periode

Stationary phase

The cell population will reach a maximum value

will not increase any further growth rate zero
cell density remains constant
The growth of microbial populations is normally limited
either by the exhaustion of available nutrients or by the
accumulation of toxic products of metabolism the
rate of growth declines and growth eventually stops
The transition between the exponential phase and the
stationary phase involves a period of unbalanced
growth during which the various cellular components
are synthesized at unequal rates.
Consequently, cells in the stationary phase have a
chemical composition different from that of cells in the
exponential phase

However, in this phase metabolisms are

still active
Produce compounds are not synthesized
during tropophase (exp. Phase)
secondary metabolism, no obvious
function in cell metabolism
idiophase
employ primary products as raw material
very few microorganism species; not all

Death phase

activities of the cell gradually decrease as they age

In the end of stationary phase cell may start to die
Death occurs either because of the depletion of the
cellular reserves of energy, or the accumulation of
toxic products deactivating remaining cells
the cell growth rate balances the death rate.
In some cases, the organisms not only die but also
disintegrate, a process called lysis.
a death phase develops while the cell density
drastically drops if the toxic secondary metabolites
are present
exponential decrease in the number of living cells in
the media while nutrients are depleted.

MICROBIAL METABOLITES

Metabolism the sum of all the biochemical

reactions carried out by an organism.
The kinetic description of batch culture may be
rather misleading when considering the productforming capacity of the culture during the various
phases
BuLock proposed a descriptive terminology of
the behaviour of microbial cells which considered
the type of metabolism rather than the kinetics of
growth
Tropophase & iodophase

Tropophase

describes the log or exponential phase of a culture

which the sole products of metabolism are either
essential to growth, development, and reproduction
essential for survive (such as amino acids,
nucleotides, proteins, nucleic acids, lipids,
carbohydrates)
It usually performs a physiological function in the
organism (i.e. an intrinsic function)
Or are the by-products of energy-yielding metabolism
such as ethanol, acetone and butanol.
The metabolites produced during the trophophase are
referred to as primary metabolites.

Idiophase

products which do not have

an obvious role in cell
metabolism.
The metabolites produced
during the idiophase are
referred to as the secondary
metabolites.
Secondary metabolites are
produced when the cell is
not operating under
optimum conditionse., when
primary nutrient source is
depleted.
Secondary metabolites tend
to be synthesized from the
intermediates and endproducts of primary
metabolism.

Secondary metabolites are

synthesized for a finite period
by
cells that are no longer
undergoing balanced growth
Although the primary
metabolic routes are
common to the vast majority
of microorganisms, each
secondary metabolite would
be synthesized by very few
microbial taxa
not all microbial taxa
undergo secondary
metabolism;
it is a common feature of the
filamentous fungi and
bacteria

Although taxonomic distribution

of secondary metabolism is far
more limited than that of
primary metabolism, the range
of secondary products produced
is enormous
It is sometimes difficult to
categorize a product as primary
or secondary, and the kinetics
of production of certain
compounds may change,
depending on the growth
conditions employed

The inter-relationships between

primary and secondary metabolism

3 major product of secondary metabolism categories:

alkaloids, essential oil and glycosides
1. Alkaloids:
N-containinng compound used as phaarmaceutical
industries
E.g: codein, nicotine, caffeine, morphine
2. Essential oil
mixtures of terpenoid used as flavorents, fragrance
and solvents
3. Glycosides
includes phenolics, tannins & flavonoid, saponins, &
cyanogenic glycosides used as dye, flavors,
pharmaceuticals etc.