Accumulation of polyphosphate and substrate gas utilization efficiency in PHB accumulation phase of autotrophic batch culture of Alcaligenes eutrophus ATCC17697T

Abstract

Abstract The consumption of phosphate, formation of polyphosphate and the intracellular ATP level were compared in exponential phase and PHB-accumulating cells of Alcaligenes eutrophus . The phosphate consumption (mg per g dry cell weight) by PHB-accumulating cells was larger than that by exponentially growing cells. The phosphate consumed by the PHB accumulating cells was converted to polyphosphate, which was a storage substance for phosphorus. The intracellular ATP concentration in PHB-accumulating cells (expressed as μmol g −1 protein) was 1.5 times that in exponentially growing cells. The same proportional increase in H 2 oxidation was observed. From this result it was observed that the ATP pool size expressed in terms of ATP/g protein per mol H 2 product was the same in both culture phases.