Formation of hydrogen and formate by Ruminococcus albus

Radioisotopic growth studies with specifically labeled (14)C-glucose confirmed that Ruminococcus albus, strain 7, ferments glucose mainly by the Embden-Myerhof-Parnas pathway to acetate, ethanol, formate, CO(2), H(2), and an unidentified product. Cell suspensions and extracts converted pyruvate to acetate, H(2), CO(2), and a small amount of ethanol. Formate was not produced from pyruvate and was not degraded to H(2) and CO(2), indicating that formate was not an intermediate in the production of H(2) and CO(2) from pyruvate. Cell extract and (14)C-glucose growth studies showed that the H(2)-producing pyruvate lyase reaction is the major route of H(2) and CO(2) production. An active pyruvate-(14)CO(2) exchange reaction was demonstrable with cell extracts. The (14)C-glucose growth studies indicated that formate, as well as CO(2), arises from the 3 and 4 carbon positions of glucose. A formate-producing pyruvate lyase system was not demonstrable either by pyruvate-(14)C-formate exchange or by net formate formation from pyruvate. Growth studies with unlabeled glucose and labeled (14)CO(2) or (14)C-formate suggest that formate arises from the 3 and 4 carbon positions of glucose by an irreversible reduction of CO(2). The results of the studies on the time course of formate production showed that formate production is a late function of growth, and the rate of production, as well as the total amount produced, increases as the glucose concentration available to the organism increases.