Cellulose acetate entrapment of Escherichia coli on cotton cloth for aspartate production

Summary Aspartase containingEscherichia coli cells were entrapped in cellulose acetate aggregated on cotton cloth. The enzyme activity of the cloth was stabilized by treatment with polyethylenimine and alkaline glutaraldehyde in the presence of 0.1 M sodium dithionite. A column packed with the cloth segments catalyzed 100% conversion of 1 M ammonium fumarate to aspartic acid at a space velocity of 7/h. When the same cloth segments were stirred at 100 rpm in the substrate solution, the productivity of the cloth increased 2.5 times.