Substrate inhibition kinetics of phenol degradation by Pseudomonas fluorescence from steady state and wash-out data

The present study investigated the phenol utilization kinetics of a pure culture of an indigenous Pseudomonas fluorescence under steady state and non-steady state (washout) conditions. Steady states of a continuous culture with an inhibitory substrate was used to estimate kinetic parameters under substrate limitation (chemo stat operation) Pure cultures of an indigenous Pseudomonas fluorescence were grown in continuous culture on phenol as the sole source of carbon and energy at dilution rates of 0.010 - 0.20/h. Using different dilution rates, several steady states were investigated and the specific phenol consumption rates were calculated. In addition, phenol degradation was investigated by increasing the dilution rate above the critical dilution rate (washout cultivation). The results showed that the specific phenol consumption rate increased with increased dilution rate at steady state and phenol degradation by Pseudomonas fluorescence can be described by simple substrate inhibition kinetics under substrate limitation but cannot be described by simple substrate inhibition kinetics under washout cultivation. Fitting of the steady state data from continuous cultivation to various inhibition models resulted in the best fit for Haldane, Yano and Koga (2), Aiba and Teissier kinetic inhibition models. The r(smax) value of 0.229 mg/mg/h obtained from the inhibition model equations was comparable to the experimentally calculated r(smax) value of 0.246 mg/mg/h obtained under washout cultivation. Therefore, the biokinetic constants evaluated using these models showed good tolerance and growth of the indigenous organism.