Fermentative degradation of acetone by an enrichment culture in membrane-separated culture devices and in cell suspensions.

A mixed culture, WoAct, growing on acetone, consisted of two dominant morphotypes: a rod-shaped acetone-fermenting bacterium producing acetate, and an acetate-utilizing Methanosaeta species. Dense cell suspensions, largely free of the aceticlastic methanogen and supplemented with bromoethanesulfonate, were able to degrade acetone and grow in small volumes in membrane-separated culture devices in which the acetate produced could diffuse into a large volume of medium. Acetone degradation and growth halted when the acetate concentration reached about 10 to 12 mM. Cell suspensions were able to degrade acetone in the absence of active methanogenesis, but the addition of 10 mM acetate inhibited acetone metabolism. Addition of an active culture of Methanosaeta sp. greatly stimulated the rate of acetone degradation. The results show that acetate removal in the mixed culture is not a prerequisite for growth and acetone degradation by the acetone-fermenting bacterium.