ChE

170 Homework #2 (Due Thursday, October 8)

1. Biological Chemicals (30 Points): Adenosine is a building block for many important
biomolecules that are involved in cellular energy, cell signaling, and cellular regulation.

(a) Draw the structure of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and cyclic adenosine
monophosphate (cAMP).

(b) ATP is an important energy currency in cells. With reference to your structures above,
explain why ATP is used by cells to store & release energy, while another adenosine-
containing molecule like cAMP is not. (hint: your answer should include a discussion of
G)


(c) A 70 kg adult (~150 lbs) could meet his or her entire energy needs for one day by eating
3 moles of glucose (540 g). Assume that each molecule of glucose generates 30 ATP when it
is oxidized. The concentration of ATP is maintained in cells at about 2 mM, and a 70 kg
adult has about 25 L of intracellular fluid. Given that the ATP concentration remains
constant in cells, calculate how many times per day (on average) each ATP molecule in the
body is hydrolyzed and resynthesized.


(d) Suppose you are asked to formulate a cell-based bioprocessing strategy to produce
adenosine. What cellular platform would you select for production (without any additional
information)


(e) Given what you know about adenosine, list one potential problem you see with cell-
based production of this product.



2. Comparing Cellular Platforms (20 Points): In class, we talked about the differences
between two key model microbes used in bioprocessing. Below, draw an engineers view
of the cells and parts of:
(a.) E. coli



(b.) S. cerevisiae

3. Monitoring Cell Growth (10 points): Anaerobic gut fungi take up residence within the
digestive tract of large herbivores, where they have evolved to break down plant biomass
through the secretion of powerful enzymes. In class, you had the chance to observe these
microbial cells close up, where you (hopefully) observed that they produce a very
different looking biomass compared to yeast and E. coli. If not, please see a picture of them
on this site: http://omalleylab.weebly.com/research.html.

Suppose that you have isolated a strain of gut fungi and you are proliferating the fungi in
the lab. You plan to carry out a batch growth experiment to determine doubling time of
these fungi.

(a.) What is one direct method you can think of to measure cell growth of these cells?
Describe any disadvantages associated with your chosen method.

(b.) What is one indirect method that you could use to measure cell growth? Please explain
your answer.


4. Batch Cell Growth (15 points): A strain of mold was grown in a batch culture on glucose
and the following data were obtained:
Time (hr) Cell Concentration (g/L) Glucose Concentration (g/L)
0
1.25
100
9
2.45
97
16
5.1
90.4
23
10.5
76.9
30
22
48.1
34
33
20.6
36
37.5
9.38
40
41
0.63

For this system:
(a.) Calculate the maximum net specific growth rate, max
(b.) Calculate the growth yield, YX/S
(c.) What is the maximum cell concentration you would expect if 150 g of glucose were
used with the same size inoculum?

5. Batch Cell Growth (25 points): A simple, batch fermentation of E. coli growing on an
alcohol gave the results shown in the below table:

Time (hour)
X (g/L)
S (g/L)
0
.2
9.23
2
.211
9.21
4
.305
9.07
8
.98
8.03
10
1.77
6.8
12
3.2
4.6
14
5.6
0.92
16
6.15
0.077
18
6.2
0

Calculate:
(a.) Maximum growth rate (m)
(b.) Yield on substrate (YX/S)
(c.) Mass doubling time (d)
(d.) Saturation constant (KS)
(e.) Specific growth rate (net) at t = 10 hours