Process for biodegradation of a xenobiotic
OwnerAndrew J. Daugulis, Lisa D. Collinsinventors
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Abstract
A process for biodegradation of a xenobiotic. A process for biodegradation of a xenobiotic comprising the steps of: contacting an organic phase comprising the xenobiotic and at least one substantially water-immiscible organic solvent with an aqueous phase comprising water and a microorganism capable of metabolizing the xenobiotic; partitioning a portion of the xenobiotic from the organic phase to the aqueous phase such that the concentration of the xenobiotic in the aqueous phase is substantially non-toxic to the microorganism; and causing the microorganism to metabolize the xenobiotic in the aqueous phase.
Claims23
A fed batch process for biodegradation of a xenobiotic comprising the steps of:
- (i) preparing an aqueous phase comprising water and a microorganism capable of metabolizing the xenobiotic;
- (ii) preparing an organic phase comprising the xenobiotic at an initial concentration and at least one water-immiscible organic solvent, the solvent having a partition coefficient of at least 20 and a log P value greater than the critical log P value for the microorganism;
- (iii) contacting the organic phase and the aqueous phase in a reactor;
- (iv) allowing a portion of the xenobiotic to spontaneously partition from the organic phase to the aqueous phase, said initial concentration being set such that said portion is below a level which is toxic to said microorganism;
- (v) causing the microorganism to metabolize the xenobiotic in the aqueous phase;
- (vi) determining the concentration of xenobiotic in the organic phase;
- (vii) adding further xenobiotic to the organic phase when the concentration of the xenobiotic in the organic phase is reduced to approximately 2 g/L;
- and
- (viii) repeating steps (iv) to (vii)
- wherein said process exhibits enhanced productivity over productivity observed in a batch process due to elimination of lag phase of microorganism cell growth when xenobiotic is added as in sub-paragraph (vii) above.
A fed batch process for biodegradation of a xenobiotic comprising the steps of:
- (i) preparing an aqueous phase comprising water and a microorganism capable of metabolizing the xenobiotic;
- (ii) preparing an organic phase comprising the xenobiotic at an initial concentration and at least one water-immiscible organic solvent, the solvent having a partition coefficient of at least 20 and a log P value greater than the critical log P value for the microorganism;
- (iii) contacting the organic phase and the aqueous phase in a reactor;
- (iv) allowing a portion of the xenobiotic to spontaneously partition from the organic phase to the aqueous phase, said initial concentration being set such that said portion is below a level which is toxic to said microorganism;
- (v) causing the microorganism to metabolize the xenobiotic in the aqueous phase;
- (vi) determining the concentration of xenobiotic in the organic phase;
- and
- (vii) adding further xenobiotic to the organic phase when the concentration of the xenobiotic in the organic phase is reduced to approximately 2 g/L
- wherein said process exhibits enhanced productivity over productivity observed in a batch process due to elimination of lag phase of microorganism cell growth when xenobiotic is added as in sub-paragraph (vii) above.
A fed batch process for biodegradation of a xenobiotic comprising the steps of:
- contacting an organic phase comprising the xenobiotic at an initial concentration and at least one water-immiscible organic solvent, the solvent having a partition coefficient of at least 20 and a log P value greater than the critical log P value for a microorganism capable of metabolizing the xenobiotic, with an aqueous phase comprising water and the microorganism;
- allowing a portion of the xenobiotic to spontaneously partition from the organic phase to the aqueous phase, said initial concentration being set such that said portion is below a level which is toxic to said microorganism;
- causing the microorganism to metabolize the xenobiotic in the aqueous phase;
- determining the concentration of xenobiotic in the organic phase;
- and
- adding further xenobiotic to the organic phase when the concentration of the xenobiotic in the organic phase is reduced to approximately 2 g/L
- wherein said process exhibits enhanced productivity over productivity observed in a batch process due to elimination of lag phase of microorganism cell growth when xenobiotic is added responsive to reduction of concentration thereof below said initial concentration.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.