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Kinetic modeling of rhamnolipid production by Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 including cell density-dependent regulation

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Abstract

The production of rhamnolipid biosurfactants by Pseudomonas aeruginosa is under complex control of a quorum sensing-dependent regulatory network. Due to a lack of understanding of the kinetics applicable to the process and relevant interrelations of variables, current processes for rhamnolipid production are based on heuristic approaches. To systematically establish a knowledge-based process for rhamnolipid production, a deeper understanding of the time-course and coupling of process variables is required. By combining reaction kinetics, stoichiometry, and experimental data, a process model for rhamnolipid production with P. aeruginosa PAO1 on sunflower oil was developed as a system of coupled ordinary differential equations (ODEs). In addition, cell density-based quorum sensing dynamics were included in the model. The model comprises a total of 36 parameters, 14 of which are yield coefficients and 7 of which are substrate affinity and inhibition constants. Of all 36 parameters, 30 were derived from dedicated experimental results, literature, and databases and 6 of them were used as fitting parameters. The model is able to describe data on biomass growth, substrates, and products obtained from a reference batch process and other validation scenarios. The model presented describes the time-course and interrelation of biomass, relevant substrates, and products on a process level while including a kinetic representation of cell density-dependent regulatory mechanisms.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Dipl.-Ing. Michaela Zwick (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institute of Process Engineering in Life Sciences) for excellent technical assistance. This work was financed by the Baden-Württemberg Stiftung as part of the Environmental Technology Research Program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Process Engineering in Life Sciences, Section II: Technical Biology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Engler-Bunte-Ring 1, 76131, Karlsruhe, Germany

    Marius Henkel & Christoph Syldatk

  2. Institute of Functional Interfaces, Department Microbiology of Natural and Technical Interfaces, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Hermann von Helmholtz Platz 1, 76344, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany

    Anke Schmidberger & Thomas Schwartz

  3. Department Systems for Measurement, Control and Diagnosis (MRD), Fraunhofer Institute of Optronics, System Technologies and Image Exploitation, Fraunhoferstr. 1, 76131, Karlsruhe, Germany

    Markus Vogelbacher, Christian Kühnert & Thomas Bernard

  4. Institute of Food Science and Biotechnology (150), Section Bioprocess Engineering (150k), University of Hohenheim, Garbenstr. 25, 70599, Stuttgart, Germany

    Janina Beuker & Rudolf Hausmann

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  1. Marius Henkel
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  2. Anke Schmidberger
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Correspondence to Marius Henkel.

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Henkel, M., Schmidberger, A., Vogelbacher, M. et al. Kinetic modeling of rhamnolipid production by Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 including cell density-dependent regulation. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 98, 7013–7025 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-014-5750-3

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