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Syntrophic Degradation of Fatty Acids by Methanogenic Communities

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Microbial Technologies in Advanced Biofuels Production

Abstract

In methanogenic environments degradation of fatty acids is a key process in the conversion of organic matter to methane and carbon dioxide. For degradation of fatty acids with three or more carbon atoms syntrophic communities are required. This chapter describes the general features of syntrophic degradation in methanogenic environments and the properties of the microorganisms involved. Syntrophic fatty acid-degrading communities grow at the minimum of what is thermodynamically possible and they employ biochemical mechanisms to share the minimum amount of chemical energy that is available. Aggregation of the syntrophic fatty acid-degrading communities is required for high rate conversion.

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Acknowledgments

Our research was funded by grants of the Chemical Science (CW) and the Earth and Life Sciences (ALW) divisions and the Technical Science Foundation (STW) of the Netherlands Science Foundation (NWO). Research of D.Z. Sousa was financed by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) and Fundo Social Europeu (FSE) (SFRH/BD/8726/2002), and by the Wageningen Institute for Environmental and Climate Research (WIMEK).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Microbiology, Wageningen University, Dreijenplein 10, Wageningen, HB 6703, The Netherlands

    Alfons J. M. Stams, Petra Worm, Diana Z. Sousa & Caroline M. Plugge

  2. Institute for Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Center for Biological Engineering, University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, Braga, 4710-057, Portugal

    Alfons J. M. Stams, Diana Z. Sousa & M. Madalena Alves

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  1. Alfons J. M. Stams
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  2. Petra Worm
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  3. Diana Z. Sousa
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  4. M. Madalena Alves
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  5. Caroline M. Plugge
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Correspondence to Alfons J. M. Stams .

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  1. Dépt. Microbiologie et Immunologie, Université de Montréal, MONTREAL, Québec, Canada

    Patrick C. Hallenbeck

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Stams, A.J.M., Worm, P., Sousa, D.Z., Alves, M.M., Plugge, C.M. (2012). Syntrophic Degradation of Fatty Acids by Methanogenic Communities. In: Hallenbeck, P. (eds) Microbial Technologies in Advanced Biofuels Production. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-1208-3_8

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