This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Jain, M. K.
Right arrow Articles by Zeikus, J. G.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Jain, M. K.
Right arrow Articles by Zeikus, J. G.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Jain, M. K.
Right arrow Articles by Zeikus, J. G.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Appl Environ Microbiol. 1989 February; 55(2): 366-371
Copyright © 1989, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Bioconversion of Gelatin to Methane by a Coculture of Clostridium collagenovorans and Methanosarcina barkeri

M. K. Jain and J. G. Zeikus*

1 Michigan Biotechnology Institute, 3900 Collins Road, Lansing, Michigan 48909,
Departments of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 488242

ABSTRACT

A simple, stable, and transferable coculture of Clostridium collagenovorans and Methanosarcina barkeri that readily degraded gelatin into methane and carbon dioxide was developed. In monoculture, C. collagenovorans fermented all of the amino acids in gelatin except proline into acetate and carbon dioxide as the main products, with hydrogen, isovalerate, and isobutyrate detected in trace amounts (<1 mM). In coculture with M. barkeri, gelatin was transformed into methane and carbon dioxide, with varying levels of intermediary acetate formed as a function of incubation time. Various complex proteinaceous polymers could be readily transformed into methane and carbon dioxide at 30 to 40°C by a stable coculture which did not require exogenous growth factor additions. In addition, the coculture was readily transferable and preserved in the viable state for long periods, and methanogenesis could be initiated rapidly without the need for exogenous pH control.

FOOTNOTES

* Corresponding author.

Appl Environ Microbiol. 1989 February; 55(2): 366-371
Copyright © 1989, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»