Methane Production from Glucose by a Mixed Culture of Bacteria in the Chemostat: the Role of Citrobacter

Abstract

Summary: A chemostat culture under a nitrogen atmosphere with a formate and inorganic salts medium fed at dilution rates up to 0·1 h^-1 and inoculated from a sewage works anaerobic digester, proved to be an easy way of isolating a stable methanogenic bacterial culture. Formate-limited growth yielded a mixed culture containing predominantly methanogenic bacteria morphologically similar to Methanobacterium formicicum and Methanobacterium ruminantium.