Hydrogen production from organic substrates in an aerobic nitrogen-fixing marine unicellular cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. strain Miami BG 043511
- Univ. of Miami, FL (United States)
Synechococcus sp. strain Miami BG 043511 exhibits very high H[sub 2] photoproduction from water, but the H[sub 2] photo-production capability is lost rapidly with the age of the batch culture. The decrease of the capability coincides with the decrease of cellular glucose content. However, H[sub 2] photoproduction capability can be restored by the addition of organic substrates. Among 40 organic compounds tested, carbohydrates such as glucose, fructose, maltose, and sucrose were effective electron donors. Among organic acids tested, only pyruvate was an effective electron donor. Among alcohols tested, glycerol was a good electron donor, whereas ethanol was a poor but positive electron donor. These results demonstrate that this unicellular cyanobacterium exhibits a wide substrate specificity for H[sub 2] photoproduction but has a different substrate specificity compared to photosynthetic bacteria. The maximum rates of H[sub 2] photoproduction from a 6-day-old batch culture with 25 mmol of pyruvate, glucose, maltose, sucrose, fructose, and glycerol were 1.11, 0.62, 0.05, 0.47, 0.30, and 0.39 [mu]moles per mg cell dry weight per hour respectively. Therefore, this cyanobacterial strain may have a potential significance in removing organic materials from the wastewater and simultaneously transforming them to H[sub 2] gas, a pollution-free energy. The activity of nitrogenase, which catalyzes hydrogen production, completely disappeared when intracellular glucose was used up, but it could be restored by the addition of organic substrates such as glucose and pyruvate.
- OSTI ID:
- 7086969
- Journal Information:
- Biotechnology and Bioengineering; (United States), Vol. 44:10; ISSN 0006-3592
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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