[Isolation of a high hydrogen-producing mutant TB34 generated by transposon insertion and analysis of hydrogen...

To increase the hydrogen-producing capacity of Pantoea agglomerans BH18, isolated from mangrove sludge, we constructed a stable transposon mutagenesis library of this strain. A Tn7-based transposon was randomly inserted into the genomic DNA. Mutants were screened by kanamycin resistance and identified by amplification of the inserted transposon sequences. A mutant strain TB34 was isolated, whose hydrogen production capacity was significantly improved compared to the wild type strain. In seawater-containing medium supplemented with 10 g x L(-1) glucose and had an initial pH of 7.0, the hydrogen yield (H2/glucose) of the mutant strain was (2.04 +/- 0.04) mol x mol(-1), which was 43% higher than that of the wild type strain. The mutant TB34 showed steady hydrogen production capacity for five consecutive passages. Different carbon sources were tested in the hydrogen production by the mutant TB34 and the results showed that both the mutant strain TB34 and the wild type strain BH18 were able to produce hydrogen on sucrose, glucose and fructose. However, different from the wild type strain, the mutant strain TB34 was also able to produce hydrogen using xylose as substrate, with a hydrogen yield (H2/xylose) of (1.34 +/- 0.09) mol x mol(-1), indicating a broader substrate spectrum in the mutant.