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Hydrogen inhibition of acetate metabolism and kinetics of hydrogen consumption by Methanosarcina thermophila TM-1

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Abstract

Methanosarcina thermophila TM-1 produced hydrogen during growth on acetate, maintaining a concentration of approx. 0.3 μM in the culture, corresponding to a hydrogen partial pressure of approx. 40 Pa. Increasing the partial pressure of hydrogen to 250 Pa and more led to a gradually increasing inhibition of acetate metabolism. No growth was observed when the gas phase contained 2000 Pa or more and acetate metabolism did not occur even after prolonged incubation (more than 2 weeks). M. thermophila was capable of limited consumption of hydrogen. Consumption of low concentrations of hydrogen proceeded simultaneously with acetate utilization. The affinity for hydrogen (K m=5 μM) was within the range normally found for hydrogenutilizing methanogens, while the corresponding V max (1.2 μmol hydrogen consumed mg-1 · cells h-1) was orders of magnitude lower.

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Ahring, B.K., Westermann, P. & Mah, R.A. Hydrogen inhibition of acetate metabolism and kinetics of hydrogen consumption by Methanosarcina thermophila TM-1. Arch. Microbiol. 157, 38–42 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00245332

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00245332

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