Control Mechanisms Operative in a Natural Microbial Population Selected for Its Ability to Degrade L-Lysine. III. Effects of Carbohydrates in Continuous-Flow Systems Under Shock Load Conditions

Abstract Two naturally selected microbial populations were maintained under continuousflow conditions with glucose or magnesium growth-limiting. The reactors were subjected to shock loads by changing the influent substrate from L-lysine to a mixture of L-lysine and glucose, L-lysine and fructose, or L-lysine and ribose. During the subsequent transient state, the following parameters were examined: lysine chemical oxygen demand (COD), carbohydrate COD, total COD, biological solids concentration, cell protein, enzymatic capability (lysine-degrading enzymes), and the rate of lysine removal. The carbohydrate was then removed from the influent and the same parameters were examined until a new steady state was established. In all cases, glucose and fructose caused a significant repression of the synthesis of lysine-degrading enzymes, resulting in a decrease in the enzymatic capability of the cells. In the carbon-limited reactor, the faster the flow rate, the greater was the repression, whereas, in the magnesium-limited reactor, the slower the flow rate, the greater was the repression. The introduction of ribose into the reactors caused an initial increase in lysine enzymatic capability followed by a slight repression when ribose degradation started.