Clostridium acetobutylicum Mutants That Produce Butyraldehyde and Altered Quantities of Solvents

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Abstract
Spontaneous mutants of Clostridium acetobutylicum NRRL B643 that were resistant to allyl alcohol (AA) were selected and characterized. These mutants contained 10- to 100-fold reduced activities of butanol and ethanol alcohol dehydrogenase. The AA mutants formed two groups and produced no ethanol. Type 1 AA mutants produced significant amounts of a new solvent, butyraldehyde, and contained normal levels of the coenzyme A-dependent butyraldehyde dehydrogenase (BAD). Type 2 AA mutants produced no significant butyraldehyde and lower levels of all solvents, and they contained 45- to 100-fold lower activity levels of BAD. Following ethyl methanesulfonate mutagenesis, low-acid-producing (Acid−) mutants were selected and characterized as superinduced solvent producers, yielding more than 99% of theoretical glucose carbon as solvents and only small amounts of acetate and butyrate. Following ethyl methanesulfonate mutagenesis, 13 sporulation-negative (Spo−) mutants were characterized; and 3 were found to produce only butyrate and acetate, a minor amount of acetone, and no alcohols. These Spo− mutants contained reduced butanol dehydrogenase activity and no BAD enzyme activity. The data support the view that the type 2 AA, the Acid−, and the Spo− mutants somehow alter normal regulated expression of the solvent pathway in C. acetobutylicum.