Glycolate as a metabolic substrate for the acetogen Moorella thermoacetica

Glycolate was growth supportive for Moorella thermoacetica ATCC 39073. Growth occurred in undefined and basal culture media containing 20 mM glycolate and was proportional to the concentration of glycolate (10–40 mM). Nitrate inhibited glycolate-dependent growth in the basal medium. Acetate and cell biomass were the major end products recovered from glycolate. The molar ratio (moles of glycolate required to synthesize a mole of acetate) averaged 1.4 and was in close agreement with the theoretical ratio of 1.3 for glycolate-derived acetogenesis. Glycolate-dependent growth yielded approximately 3-fold less biomass per pair of reducing equivalents utilized than did oxalate- or glyoxylate-dependent growth.