Skip to main content
Applied and Environmental Microbiology logoLink to Applied and Environmental Microbiology
. 1982 Jun;43(6):1434–1439. doi: 10.1128/aem.43.6.1434-1439.1982

Solvent Production and Morphological Changes in Clostridium acetobutylicum

D T Jones 1, A van der Westhuizen 1, S Long 1, E R Allcock 1, S J Reid 1, D R Woods 1
PMCID: PMC244251  PMID: 16346038

Abstract

The morphological and cytological changes which occurred in Clostridium acetobutylicum P262 during the production of acetone, butanol, and ethanol in an industrial fermentation medium were identified and correlated with the growth and physiological changes. The swollen, cigar-shaped clostridial forms were involved in the conversion of acids to neutral solvents, and there was a correlation between the number of clostridial forms and the production of solvents. Sporulation mutants which were unable to form clostridial stages (cls mutants) did not produce solvents. Oligosporogenous mutants which showed reduced clostridial stage formation produced intermediate levels of solvents. Sporulation mutants blocked after the clostridial stage, which were unable to form mature spores (spo mutants), produced normal levels of solvents.

Full text

PDF
1436

Images in this article

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Allcock E. R., Reid S. J., Jones D. T., Woods D. R. Autolytic Activity and an Autolysis-Deficient Mutant of Clostridium acetobutylicum. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1981 Dec;42(6):929–935. doi: 10.1128/aem.42.6.929-935.1981. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Barber J. M., Robb F. T., Webster J. R., Woods D. R. Bacteriocin production by Clostridium acetobutylicum in an industrial fermentation process. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1979 Mar;37(3):433–437. doi: 10.1128/aem.37.3.433-437.1979. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Davies R., Stephenson M. Studies on the acetone-butyl alcohol fermentation: Nutritional and other factors involved in the preparation of active suspensions of Cl. acetobutylicum (Weizmann). Biochem J. 1941 Dec;35(12):1320–1331. doi: 10.1042/bj0351320. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Doi R. H., Brown L. R., Rodgers G., Hsu Y. Bacillus subtilis mutant altered in spore morphology and in RNA polymerase activity. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1970 Jun;66(2):404–410. doi: 10.1073/pnas.66.2.404. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Hoeniger J. F., Headley C. L. Cytology of spore germination in Clostridium pectinovorum. J Bacteriol. 1968 Nov;96(5):1835–1847. doi: 10.1128/jb.96.5.1835-1847.1968. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Hsu E. J., Ordal Z. J. Comparative metabolism of vegetative and sporulating cultures of Clostridium thermosaccharolyticum. J Bacteriol. 1970 May;102(2):369–376. doi: 10.1128/jb.102.2.369-376.1970. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Kay D., Warren S. C. Sporulation in Bacillus subtilis. Morphological changes. Biochem J. 1968 Oct;109(5):819–824. doi: 10.1042/bj1090819. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Murray C. D., Pun P. P., Strauss N. Characterization of a rifampin-resistant, conditional asporogenous mutant of Bacillus subtilis. J Bacteriol. 1975 Jul;123(1):346–353. doi: 10.1128/jb.123.1.346-353.1975. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. O'Brien R. W., Morris J. G. Oxygen and the growth and metabolism of Clostridium acetobutylicum. J Gen Microbiol. 1971 Nov;68(3):307–318. doi: 10.1099/00221287-68-3-307. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. SMITH A. G., ELLNER P. D. Cytological observations on the sporulation process of Clostridium perfringens. J Bacteriol. 1957 Jan;73(1):1–7. doi: 10.1002/path.1700730102. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Walker P. D. Symposium on bacterial spores: I. Cytology of spore formation and germination. J Appl Bacteriol. 1970 Mar;33(1):1–12. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2672.1970.tb05229.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Webster J. R., Reid S. J., Jones D. T., Woods D. R. Purification and Characterization of an Autolysin from Clostridium acetobutylicum. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1981 Feb;41(2):371–374. doi: 10.1128/aem.41.2.371-374.1981. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Zeikus J. G. Chemical and fuel production by anaerobic bacteria. Annu Rev Microbiol. 1980;34:423–464. doi: 10.1146/annurev.mi.34.100180.002231. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Applied and Environmental Microbiology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES