Charge balance and acidity regulation during growth of sugar‐cane cell suspensions
Abstract. An analysis of nutrient uptake by batch cultures of sugar-cane cells was performed to gain information about the ionic balance during uptake of charged metabolites. Whereas younger cultures (up to 1 week old) have to compensate excess cation influx with proton efflux, older cultures show balanced cation–anion uptake.

Younger cells produce a small amount of carboxylic acids to furnish protons for charge compensation at the cytoplasmic membrane. Older cells synthesize organic acids more abundantly to generate protons necessary for the proton demand of nitrate and sulphate assimilation. Despite these assimilation reactions only a small percentage of carbon, which is taken up mainly as hexose, needs to be oxidized to carboxylic acids for that purpose. In contrast, younger cultures preferentially use the amino acids of the medium instead of assimilating nitrate. The use of amino acids as a nitrogen source does not require a significant part of metabolism for biochemical pH-stability, whereas an efficient proton circulation on the cytoplasmic membrane seems to be of major importance.

A balance study of the main metabolized elements, carbon, nitrogen and sulphur was performed to get a quantitative impression of the fate of these nutrients during growth of cell cultures.