Selection and characterization of Clostridium bifermentans strains from natural environment capable of producing 1,3-propanediol under microaerophilic conditions

In this work, we aimed to select from natural environment non-pathogenic strains of Clostridium spp. capable of producing 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PD). As a result we isolated 2256 of Clostridium spp., including 10 strains from the genus Clostridium bifermentans. It occurred that all isolates of this species were able to synthesis 1,3-PD on the level of ca. 10 g/L. Additionally, they synthetized metabolites in microaerophilic conditions, which is very profitable from the industrial point of view. We characterized morphological and physiological properties of all isolated strains of C. bifermentans. These tests demonstrated significant dissimilarity among all isolates of C. bifermentans species. Key words: Aerotolerant, Clostridium bifermentans, glycerol fermentation, isolation, 1,3-propanediol.a