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The biotechnology of hydrogen production by Nostoc flagelliforme grown under chemostat conditions

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The potential of using N2-fixing cyanobacteria to produce hydrogen photobiologically has stimulated research on the physiology and biotechnology of species exhibiting high H2 production rates over long periods of time. In this work Nostoc flagelliforme, a terrestrial N2-fixing cyanobacterium, has been examined to establish its physiology and potential for H2 production under controlled conditions. Cell filaments of N. flagelliforme were purified and grown in liquid culture to optimize its H2 metabolism. In batch-grown cultures the activity of nitrogenase, the key enzyme for H2 production in N2-fixing organisms, was found to be high only during a short phase of exponential growth. A chemostat system was thus constructed for long-term experiments using continuous cultures, with the aim of exploiting the exponential growth phase. The dilution rate (D) and environmental factors, such as N2 concentration in the gas phase and temperature, significantly influenced H2 production. Cells grown continuously under the optimized conditions of D = 0.022 h−1, 34 °C and 5.1 kPa N2 in the gas phase exhibited H2 production rates that were more than four times higher than the maximal rates under standard batch growth conditions.

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Received: 14 October 1996 / Received revision: 18 February 1997 / Accepted: 22 February 1997

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Lichtl, R., Bazin, M. & Hall, D. The biotechnology of hydrogen production by Nostoc flagelliforme grown under chemostat conditions. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 47, 701–707 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/s002530050998

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s002530050998

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