Conversion of cellulose to ethanol by mesophilic bacteria. Progress report and second year budget

Technical Report · Fri Nov 27 00:00:00 EST 1981

OSTI ID:5613115

Canale-Parola, E

Eight strains of anaerobic mesophilic cellulolytic bacteria were isolated from the mud of a freshwater pond and swamp. The isolation procedure involved serial dilution of the mud into cellulose-containing agar media. The isolates were rod-shaped and formed terminal, spherical to oval spores that swelled the sporangium. All strains fermented cellulose producing primarily ethanol, acetate, CO/sub 2/, and H/sub 2/. Growth and cellulose fermentation occurred between 22/sup 0/ and 40/sup 0/C, but not at 15/sup 0/ and 45/sup 0/C. The isolates differed from thermophilic cellulolytic clostridia not only in growth temperature range, but also because they fermented five-carbon products of plant polysaccharide hydrolysis, such as D-xylose and L-arabinose. Other fermentable substrates included xylan, D-glucose, cellobiose and, for three strains, D-galactose. None of the strains utilized maltose, sucrose, D-galacturonate, or amino acids as growth substrates. All isolates had a Gram-negative reaction and were motile by means of peritrichous flagella. The substrate utilization characteristics and the growth temperature range of the isolates indicate that these bacteria contribute to the anaerobic degradation of plant materials in the environments they inhabit. The isolates apparently represent a previously undescribed species of free-living cellulolytic clostridia.

• Research Organization: Massachusetts Univ., Amherst (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-81ER10878
• OSTI ID: 5613115
• Report Number(s): DOE/ER/10878-1; ON: DE82005333
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
BACTERIA
CELLULOLYTIC ACTIVITY
ANAEROBIC CONDITIONS
BACTERIAL SPORES
FERMENTATION
FRESH WATER
LAKES
MORPHOLOGY
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PHYSIOLOGY
SEDIMENTS
SUBSTRATES
SWAMPS
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS
BIOCONVERSION
ECOSYSTEMS
ENZYME ACTIVITY
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
MICROORGANISMS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
SPORES
SURFACE WATERS
TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS
WATER
WETLANDS
550700* - Microbiology
550200 - Biochemistry