Summary
Desulfovibrio desulfuricans was grown on a medium with an excess of pyruvate in relation to sulphate, so that the pyruvate could be dissimilated both by respiration and by fermentation. The yield per mole fermented pyruvate is much lower than the yield per mole respired pyruvate. In a continuous culture it appeared that only at low growth rates the organism uses the pyruvate completely by fermentation and respiration. At higher growth rates there is a shift to relatively more respiration, probably because the maximal growth rate of respiring cells is higher than that of fermenting cells. At still higher growth rates another shift follows towards relatively more fermentation. The cells become deficient in iron and loose electrons by way of hydrogen production.
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Paper read at the Symposium on the Sulphur Cycle, Wageningen, May 1974.
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Vosjan, J.H. Respiration and fermentation of the sulphate-reducing bacteriumDesulfovibrio desulfuricans in a continuous culture. Plant Soil 43, 141–152 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01928482
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01928482