Motivation

Solventogenic clostridia represent a diverse group of anaerobic, spore-forming bacteria capable of producing acetone, butanol and ethanol through their unique biphasic metabolism.

An intrinsic problem with these organisms however is their tendency to degenerate when repeatedly subcultured or when grown continuously. This phenomenon sees cells lose their ability to produce solvents and spores, posing a significant problem for industrial applications.

To investigate the mechanistic and evolutionary basis of degeneration we combined comparative genomics, ultra-deep sequencing, and concepts of sociomicrobiology using Clostridium beijerinckii NCIMB 8052 as our model organism.

Results

These approaches revealed spo0A, the master regulator gene involved in spore and solvent formation, to be key to the degeneration process in this strain.

Further information available at Humphreys et al. (link available when published)