Measurement of oxygen concentration gradients in gel-immobilized recombinant Escherichia coli

In this study, an oxygen microsensor was used to measure oxygen concentration profiles in carrageenan gel particles containing growing, immobilized Escherichia coli B (pTG201). Profiles, which were measured at intervals during continuous culture of gel slabs and beads, became increasingly steep with time. The oxygen penetration depth in the gel decreased with time, eventually reaching a steady state value of approximately 100 microns for both gel beads and slabs. A reaction-diffusion model employing zero-order cell growth kinetics was found to provide an excellent fit to the experimental concentration data. Growth rates estimated from profiles obtained during the first few hours of culture were 0.24h-1 (gel slabs) and 0.18h-1 (beads), compared to a value of 0.30 h-1 measured in free-cell suspensions at 25 degrees C.