Development of activity monitoring of microbes using acoustic emission

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K21859
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 64:Environmental conservation measure and related fields
• Research Institution: Saitama University
• Principal Investigator: Kageyama Kensuke 埼玉大学, 理工学研究科, 教授 (30272280)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-07-30 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 培養モニタリング / エレクトレット / アコースティック・エミッション / センサ / 発酵 / 光合成

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The applicant has developed an electret condenser sensor (ECS), which is a sensor capable of detecting ultrasonic waves in air, water, and living organisms with high sensitivity. By using the developed ECS, we have attempted to detect foamed AE produced by microbial activity. As a result, we were able to detect many AEs caused by the fermentation of yeast in sucrose solution, the fermentation of yeast in mash, and foaming associated with photosynthesis of various algae. The measured AE generation behavior was related to the activity of fermentation and photosynthesis, and the number of AE detected showed a strong correlation with the change in sugar content of the culture solution due to fermentation and the dry weight of algae. These results suggest that AE measurement using ECS is useful as a simple method for understanding microbial culture conditions.

Free Research Field

非破壊評価

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

微生物は，有機物を分解することで生命活動に必要なエネルギーを獲得しており，その副産物を用いて発酵食品のような物質生産が行われている。例えばアルコール発酵などは，バイオエタノールとして燃料にも使用され始めており，発酵生産技術の改良は重要な課題である。ECSを用いて微生物の活動　に起因するAEを測定することで，微生物の培養状態をリアルタイムにモニタリングできれば，活動状態に応じた管理を行うことで発酵生産効率の向上に大きく寄与すると考えられる。また，ブルーカーボンのような野外での水生植物の生育状態を把握することにも貢献できると予想される。