| Abstract: | The conversion of naphthalene to salicylic acid by Pseudomonas fluorescens was studied as a model for dialysis fermentation. In a demonstration experiment, the continual removal of the product by dialysis and by intermittent replenishment of the dialysate reservoir caused cyclical changes in the concentrations of viable cells and product. The cumulative total amount of both cell mass and salicylate, however, continued to increase steadily until the experiment was terminated after 15 days. At this time the rate of product formation was highest and still increasing, although less than 10% of the cells were viable. The terminal amount of salicylate was about 20-fold greater than the maximum reached in the control fermentation, and was calculated to be 2.6-fold more productive even if the control were optimally recycled. Methods were projected to achieve still further improvements. |
