What is the oxygen demand?
Recombinant protein is produced by a genetically engineered strain of Escherichia coli during cell growth. The recombinant protein can be considered a product of cell culture even though it is not secreted from the cells; it is synthesized in addition to normal E. coli biomass. Ammonia is used as the nitrogen source for aerobic respiration of glucose. The recombinant protein has an overall formula of CH1.55O0.31N0.25. The yield of biomass (excluding recombinant protein) from glucose is measured as 0.48 g g-1 ; the yield of recombinant protein from glucose is about 20% of that for cells.
a) How much ammonia is required?
b) What is the oxygen demand?
c) If the biomass yield remains at 0.48 g g-1 , how much different are the ammonia and oxygen requirements for wild-type E. coli that is unable to synthesize recombinant protein?
