The Effects of Different Carbon Sources on the Growth of <i>Rhodobacter sphaeroides</i>

Abstract

Rhodobacter sphaeroides is a purple non-sulfur bacterium that belongs to the α -3 subdivision of Proteobacteria. R. sphaeroides is a model bacterial species because of its complex genome structure and expanded metabolic capabilities. The genome of R. sphaeroides consists of two circular chromosomes and five endogenous plasmids. It has the ability to grow under a wide variety of environmental conditions. It grows aerobically (~20% O 2 ), semi-aerobically (~2% O 2 ), and photosynthetically (under anaerobic condition plus light). It has been previously shown that many bacterial species utilize a number of alternate carbon sources for their optimal growth under a variety of growth conditions. We hypothesize that different or an additional carbon source in the minimal medium differentially affects the bacterial growth under dark-aerobic conditions. The bacterial growth kinetics and the number of cells in the bacterial culture were analyzed by measuring the optical density (OD at 600 nm) and the colony forming units (CFUs) at regular intervals of bacterial cultures. Results reveal that sodium succinate is the preferred sole carbon source for the optimal growth of R. sphaeroides . The results of growth kinetics and CFUs together concluded that from the tested carbon sources, sodium succinate is the best single carbon source in the minimal media for the optimal growth of R. sphaeroides . Interestingly, cell culture grown in SIS supplemented with sodium acetate exhibits a prolonged lag phase with the lowest ODs and CFUs that later switches to the growth-burst phase support previously discovered similar phenomenon of the growth-rate switch in the presence of acetate metabolism. Future work will utilize the aerobically grown R. sphaeroides’ cells as a biocatalyst to deplete the oxygen levels from natural gas streams and industrial gas pipelines.