Patent ID: 8658415
Filing Date: 2014-02-25
Classification: C12N,C12P,C12Q,Y02E

Abstract:
1. A method of sustaining viability of a microbial culture of a carboxydotrophic bacterium in a continuous fermentation process, the method comprising: providing a gaseous substrate comprising CO as the sole carbon source to a bioreactor comprising a fermentation broth comprising a culture of said bacterium suspended in a liquid nutrient medium; fermenting the gaseous substrate to alcohols and acids at an optimum operating temperature; monitoring the CO concentration in the fermentation broth; and when the CO concentration is determined to be limiting lowering the temperature of the fermentation broth below the optimum operating temperature such that viability of the bacterium is maintained, where the CO is determined to be limited when the rate of transfer of CO into the fermentation broth is less than the uptake of CO by the culture of the bacterium.