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. 1988 Jan;54(1):20–29. doi: 10.1128/aem.54.1.20-29.1988

Control of Interspecies Electron Flow during Anaerobic Digestion: Significance of Formate Transfer versus Hydrogen Transfer during Syntrophic Methanogenesis in Flocs

Jurgen H Thiele 1, J Gregory Zeikus 1,*
PMCID: PMC202391  PMID: 16347526

Abstract

Microbial formate production and consumption during syntrophic conversion of ethanol or lactate to methane was examined in purified flocs and digestor contents obtained from a whey-processing digestor. Formate production by digestor contents or purified digestor flocs was dependent on CO2 and either ethanol or lactate but not H2 gas as an electron donor. During syntrophic methanogenesis, flocs were the primary site for formate production via ethanol-dependent CO2 reduction, with a formate production rate and methanogenic turnover constant of 660 μM/h and 0.044/min, respectively. Floc preparations accumulated fourfold-higher levels of formate (40 μM) than digestor contents, and the free flora was the primary site for formate cleavage to CO2 and H2 (90 μM formate per h). Inhibition of methanogenesis by CHCl3 resulted in formate accumulation and suppression of syntrophic ethanol oxidation. H2 gas was an insignificant intermediary metabolite of syntrophic ethanol conversion by flocs, and its exogenous addition neither stimulated methanogenesis nor inhibited the initial rate of ethanol oxidation. These results demonstrated that >90% of the syntrophic ethanol conversion to methane by mixed cultures containing primarily Desulfovibrio vulgaris and Methanobacterium formicicum was mediated via interspecies formate transfer and that <10% was mediated via interspecies H2 transfer. The results are discussed in relation to biochemical thermodynamics. A model is presented which describes the dynamics of a bicarbonate-formate electron shuttle mechanism for control of carbon and electron flow during syntrophic methanogenesis and provides a novel mechanism for energy conservation by syntrophic acetogens.

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Selected References

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