GROWTH-KINETICS OF MIXED CULTURES UNDER CHLORATE-REDUCING CONDITIONS

Although chlorate (ClO3-) is not a naturally occurring compound, chlor ate can serve as an electron acceptor for a number of microorganisms. To investigate the rate that chlorate-reducing microbes can grow on di fferent substrates, growth rate constants were determined in chemostat studies under chlorate-reducing conditions. Maximum growth rates usin g acetate, glucose-glutamic acid, and phenol were 0.56, 0.12, and 0.04 0 h(-1), with cell yields of 0.12, 0.41, and 0.12 g-cell/g-substrate, respectively.