Abstract:
A mathematical model describing nitrite utilization by E. coli cells grown in a flow chemostat is analyzed. The system is of interest from the standpoint of the analysis of the mechanisms by which a cell utilizes toxic substrates in respiration. It is demonstrated that the system admits the appearance of two stationary nitrite concentrations; thus, it becomes bistable. The range of nitrite supply rate into the chemostat for which the model is bistable is determined. The model predicts the possibility of spontaneous death of the culture in transition between the stationary states.