University of Mindanao, Davao City

Engineering Department

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement in

Biochemical Engineering (ChE 544)

“Monod Growth Kinetics”

Submitted by:
Leizlejoy A. Bayno

Submitted to:
Engr. Arjan C. Lingaya

July 04, 2017

CELL GROWTH KINETICS

The rate of growth varies depending on the growth phase. The different phases of
growth are more readily distinguished when the natural logarithm of viable cell concentration
is plotted against time; alternatively, a semi-log plot can be used. Figure 1 below illustrates a
typical growth curve showing the changes in cell concentration with time.

Figure 1. Typical Batch Growth Curve

During the lag phase immediately after inoculation, rate of growth is essentially zero.
Cells use the lag phase to adapt to their new environment; new enzymes or structural
components may be synthesized. Following the lag period, growth starts in the acceleration
phase and continues through the growth and decline phases. If growth is exponential, the
growth phase appears as a straight line on a semi-log plot. As nutrients in the culture medium
become depleted or inhibitory products accumulate, growth slows down and the cells enter the
decline phase. After this transition period, the stationary phase is reached during which no
further growth occurs. Some cultures exhibit a death phase as the cells lose viability or are
destroyed by lysis.

BALANCED GROWTH

In an environment favorable for growth, cells regulate their metabolism and adjust the
rates of various internal reactions so that a condition of balanced growth occurs. During
balanced growth, composition of the biomass remains constant. Balanced growth means that
the cell is able to modulate the effect of external conditions and keep the cell composition
steady despite changes in environmental conditions.
 For biomass composition to remain constant during growth, the specific rate of
production of each component in the culture must be equal to the cell specific growth-rate μ:

𝑟𝑍 = 𝜇𝑧

where: Z is a cellular constituent such as protein, RNA, polysaccharide, etc.,

rz is the volumetric rate of production of Z, and
z is the concentration of Z in the reactor volume.

Balanced growth cannot be achieved if environmental changes affect rate of growth. In

most cultures, balanced growth occurs at the same time as exponential growth.

Factors Affecting Rates of Cell Growth

The rate of cell growth is influenced by temperature, pH, composition of medium,

the rate of air supply, and other factors. In the case that all other conditions are
kept constant, the specific growth rate may be affected by the concentration of a
certain specific substrate (the limiting substrate). The simplest empirical expression for the
effect of the substrate concentration on the specific growth rate is the Monod equation, which
is similar in form to the Michaelis–Menten equation for enzyme reactions:

𝜇max 𝐶𝑆
𝜇 =
𝐾𝑠 + 𝐶𝑠

where: Cs = concentration of the limiting substrate (kmol/m3)

Ks = the substrate concentration at which the specific growth rate is one-half
of μmax(h-1). It is assumed that cells grow with a constant cell composition and
a constant cell yield.

The table below shows typical values of μmax and KS. If the concentration of S is
reduced, the population growth rate will decrease. If concentration of S increases to a specific
limit where growth rate is maximum, then S is no longer regarded as a limiting factor. When
Ks = S the term S/(Ks + S) becomes half (1/2) and the growth rate becomes equal to ½
maximum rate. To obtain high substrate removal, the K value of substrate has to be low.
Table 1: Typical Values of 𝜇𝑚𝑎𝑥 and 𝐾𝑆 for Various Organisms and Substrates at Optimum Growth Temperature
Microorganism Limiting Substrate 𝝁𝐦𝐚𝐱 ,𝒉−𝟏 𝑲𝒔 , 𝒎𝒈/𝑳

E. Coli at 32 °C Glucose 0.8-1.4 2-4

E. Coli at 32 °C Glycerol 0.87 2
E. Coli at 32 °C Lactose 0.8 20
S. cerevisiae at 30 °C Glucose 0.5-0.6 25
Candida Tropicalis at 30 °C Glucose 0.5 25-75
Candida sp. Oxygen 0.5 0.045-0.45
Hexadecane 0.5
Klebsiella aerogenes Glucose 0.85 9
Aerobacter aerogenes Glucose 1.22 1-10
Data from H.W. Blanch and D.S. Clark, Biochemical Engineering, 1996, Marcel Dekker, Inc. New York.

What is Monod Equation?

Monod equation is a kinetic model which the concept of a growth controlling substrate,
called limiting substrate which indicates that the microbial growth rate rely upon the actual
concentration of a particular metabolite. It is named after a French biochemist, Jacques Monod,
in 1949. This is the most commonly used microbial growth model. The aim of Monod was to
establish that bacterial growth rate was a function of the substrate concentration increase to a
certain level where the rate of growth becomes constant with increased substrate
concentrations.

The Monod equation is by far the most frequently-used expression relating growth rate
to substrate concentration. However, it is valid only for balanced growth and should not be
applied when growth conditions are changing rapidly. There are also other restrictions; for
example, the Monod equation has been found to have limited applicability at extremely low
substrate levels. When growth is inhibited by high substrate or product concentrations, extra
terms can be added to the Monod equation to account for these effects.
REFERENCES:

Doran, P. M. (1995). Bioprocess Engineering Principles. San Diego, California: Academic Press
Limited.

Katoh, S., & Yoshida, F. (2009). Biochemical Engineering: A Textbook fro Engineers, Chemists and
Biologist. Weinheim: WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co.

Levenspiel, O. (1999). Chemical Reaction Engineering (3rd Edition ed.). New York: John Wiley &
Sons, Inc.

Liu, S. (2017). Bioprocess Engineering: Kinetics, Sustainability, and Reactor Design. Amsterdam,
Netherlands: Elsevier.

Panikov, N. S. (2002). Kinetics, Microbial Growth. In Institute of Microbiology, Russian Academy of

Scie, Encylopedia of Bioprocess Technology.