Abstract
The quantitative contribution of acetic acid to methane production was studied by use of C14-labeled acetic acid. Samples of domestic sewage sludge were incubated anaerobically in Warburg vessels. The rate of methane production in the vessels was 0.033 μmoles per ml per min. C14-labeled acetic acid was added, and the turnover rate was calculated. The pool size of acetic acid in the sludge was 4.7 μmoles/ml. The turnover rate was 0.0052 min-1, giving a rate of formation of acetic acid of 0.024 μmoles per ml per min. Under these conditions, acetic acid would account for approximately 73% of the methane produced by the sludge. Acetic acid was found to exist primarily in an extracellular pool. The turnover rate of the extracellular pool was rapid, and it was concluded that most of the acetic acid must be metabolized to methane by a specialized microflora not involved in the formation of acetic acid.
Full text
PDF
Images in this article
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- PINE M. J., BARKER H. A. Studies on the methane fermentation. XII. The pathway of hydrogen in the acetate fermentation. J Bacteriol. 1956 Jun;71(6):644–648. doi: 10.1128/jb.71.6.644-648.1956. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- PINE M. J., VISHNIAC W. The methane fermentations of acetate and methanol. J Bacteriol. 1957 Jun;73(6):736–742. doi: 10.1128/jb.73.6.736-742.1957. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]