Immobilization and characterization of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in crosslinked,prepolymerized polyacrylamide-hydrazide

Summary Baker's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) was immobilized in gels made of prepolymerized, linear, water soluble polyacrylamide, partially substituted with acylhydrazide groups. Gelation was effected by the addition of controlled amounts of dialdehydes (e.g. glyoxal). The immobilized yeasts retained full glycolytic activity. Moreover, the entrapped cells were able to grow inside the chemically corsslinked gel during continuous alcohol production. Glyoxal was found to be the most favourable crosslinking agent for this system. the system employed allowed for the free exchange of substrate and products. The gel surrounding the entrapped cells had no effect on temperature stability profile. On the other hand, substantial enhancement in survival of cells in presence of high ethanol concentrations was recorded for the entrapped yeast. The capability of the immobilized yeast to carry out continuous conversion of glucose to ethanol was demonstrated.