Clostridium acetobutylicum Mutants That Produce Butyraldehyde and Altered Quantities of Solvents

Abstract

Spontaneous mutants of Clostridium acetobutylicum NRRL B643 that were resistant to allyl alcohol (AA) were selected and characterized. These mutants contained 10- to 100-fold reduced activities of butanol and ethanol alcohol dehydrogenase. The AA mutants formed two groups and produced no ethanol. Type 1 AA mutants produced significant amounts of a new solvent, butyraldehyde, and contained normal levels of the coenzyme A-dependent butyraldehyde dehydrogenase (BAD). Type 2 AA mutants produced no significant butyraldehyde and lower levels of all solvents, and they contained 45- to 100-fold lower activity levels of BAD. Following ethyl methanesulfonate mutagenesis, low-acid-producing (Acid) mutants were selected and characterized as superinduced solvent producers, yielding more than 99% of theoretical glucose carbon as solvents and only small amounts of acetate and butyrate. Following ethyl methanesulfonate mutagenesis, 13 sporulation-negative (Spo) mutants were characterized; and 3 were found to produce only butyrate and acetate, a minor amount of acetone, and no alcohols. These Spo mutants contained reduced butanol dehydrogenase activity and no BAD enzyme activity. The data support the view that the type 2 AA, the Acid, and the Spo mutants somehow alter normal regulated expression of the solvent pathway in C. acetobutylicum.