Formation of Hydrogen and Formate by Ruminococcus albus

Formation of hydrogen and formate by Ruminococcus albus.

Radioisotopic growth studies with specifically labeled (14)C-glucose confirmed that Ruminococcus albus, strain 7, ferments glucose mainly by the Embden-Myerhof-Parnas pathway to acetate, ethanol, formate, CO(2), H(2), and an unidentified product. Cell suspensions and extracts converted pyruvate to acetate, H(2), CO(2), and a small amount of ethanol. Formate was not produced from pyruvate and wa...

Muralytic Activities of Ruminococcus albus 8.

Ruminococcus albus 8 was cultured with isolated alfalfa cell walls as the carbon source. The culture broth was assayed for muralytic enzyme activities. The effect, with respect to the production of such muralytic enzymes, of growing the microorganism on different carbon sources was also investigated. Also, the rates of solubilization and utilization by R. albus of individual alfalfa cell wall s...

Cellulose Adherence Factors in Ruminococcus albus

Nitrogen utilization and metabolism in Ruminococcus albus 8.

The model rumen Firmicutes organism Ruminococcus albus 8 was grown using ammonia, urea, or peptides as the sole nitrogen source; growth was not observed with amino acids as the sole nitrogen source. Growth of R. albus 8 on ammonia and urea showed the same growth rate (0.08 h(-1)) and similar maximum cell densities (for ammonia, the optical density at 600 nm [OD600] was 1.01; and for urea, the O...

Complete genome of the cellulolytic ruminal bacterium Ruminococcus albus 7.

Ruminococcus albus 7 is a highly cellulolytic ruminal bacterium that is a member of the phylum Firmicutes. Here, we describe the complete genome of this microbe. This genome will be useful for rumen microbiology and cellulosome biology and in biofuel production, as one of its major fermentation products is ethanol.