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Sulfate reduction and anaerobic glycerol degradation by a mixed microbial culture

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Abstract

Anaerobic glycerol degradation by a mixed microbial culture from a fermenter fed with industrial alcohol distillation waste water, was investigated in the absence or presence of sulfate, at 37°C and at a constant pH of 7.2. In the absence of sulfate, glycerol utilization was found to be characterized by the transient formation of 1,3-propanediol prior to propionate and acetate accumulation. In the presence of sulfate, 1,3-propanediol production was minor, and the carbon balance reflected a considerable accumulation of intermediate(s). A study of the role of sulfate reduction and methanogenesis on anaerobic 1,3-propanediol degradation showed that consumption of this substrate by the mixed microbial culture required a terminal electron acceptor. The number of fermentative and sulfate-reducing bacteria with glycerol or 1,3-propanediol as carbon and energy source revealed that sulfate-reducing bacteria outcompete fermentative bacteria for these substrates. The possible ecological role of sulfate-reducing bacteria in the metabolism of these reduced substrates is discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Biotechnology of A.A.I. Environment, Narbonne

    Abdel-Illah Qatibi & André Bories

  2. ORSTOM Laboratoire de Microbiologie, Université de Provence, 3, place V-Hugo, 13331, Marseille cédex 3, France

    Abdel-Illah Qatibi &  Jean-Louis Garcia

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  1. Abdel-Illah Qatibi
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  2. André Bories
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  3. Jean-Louis Garcia
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Qatibi, AI., Bories, A. & Garcia, JL. Sulfate reduction and anaerobic glycerol degradation by a mixed microbial culture. Current Microbiology 22, 47–52 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02106212

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