APPLICATION OF FLOW CYTOMETRY FOR CHARACTERIZATION OF BIOMASS DURING ABE FERMENTATION PROCESS

摘要

Production of acetone, butanol and ethanol (ABE) from the fermentation of clostridia is a commontechnology. However, reliable and rapid methods for selection of Clostridium spp. with the highest potential toconvert enzymatically hydrolyzed cellulose materials to ABE are still not available. The aim of this study was toinvestigate the potential application of flow cytometry (FCM) to detect, enumerate and characterize Clostridiumacetobutylicum, Clostridium beijerinckii and Clostridium tetanomorphum during ABE fermentation. During the studyFCM staining protocol was optimized and pH effect evaluated due high pH range variation during ABE fermentationprocess (from about 7 to 4). The results from the fermentation showed that the data obtained with FCM are consistentwith DAPI staining for total cell counts and cultivability data correlate with SYBR green and double stained cellcounts (R~2 = 0,838). The study showed that flow cytometry is rapid and sensitive enough for the monitoring of ABEfermentation on a routine basis.