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Appl. Environ. Microbiol., Aug 1996, 3066-3068, Vol 62, No. 8
Copyright © 1996, American Society for Microbiology

Kinetic Analyses of Desulfurization of Dibenzothiophene by Rhodococcus erythropolis in Continuous Cultures

P Wang, AE Humphrey and S Krawiec
Department of Molecular Biology, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 18015-4732

Rhodococcus erythropolis N1-36, a desulfurization strain, was grown in continuous culture at 10 different dilution rates with 50 (mu)M dibenzothiophene sulfone (DBTO(inf2)) as the growth-limiting nutrient. The steady-state biomass, concentrations of substrate (DBTO(inf2)) and product (monohydroxybiphenyl), saturation constant (0.39 (mu)M DBTO(inf2)), and cell yield coefficient (9 mg of biomass(middot)(mu)M(sup-1) DBTO(inf2)) were measured. Continuous cultures at five temperatures allowed calculation of activation energy (0.84 kcal(middot)mol(sup-1) [ca. 3.5 kJ(middot)mol(sup-1)]) near the optimal temperature (30(deg)C) for growth. A washout technique was used to calculate the maximum specific growth rate (0.235 h(sup-1)), a value equivalent to a minimum generation time of 2.95 h.