Fig. 4. Evaluation of Aggregation-based sedimentation (ABS).

L524 cells after 1-h sedimentation are shown in a, with wild-type as control. By monitoring the sedimentation process, we found L524 cells started to settle within 5 min and over 75% cells were settled after 15 min (b), suggesting the high settling velocity of ABS. Vertical cell concentration analysis suggests that 85% and 93% cells settled to the bottom of the harvesting vessel (20 cm in depth) within 30 min and 6 h, respectively (b). Moreover, the biomass concentration at the bottom reaches 357 OD (139.2 g/L), which delivers 14% solids content as an output for ABS (c). Original data points of bar figures (b, c) are shown on the plot with red (0.5 h) or blue (6 h) stars. Data are presented as mean values ±standard deviations (n = 3 independent samples with two technical replicates). Source data are provided as a Source Data file.