Carbon isotopic fractionations associated with acetic acid production byAcetobacter suboxydans

Acetobacter suboxydans, strain 8.3, was grown using ethanol, made by the hydration of ethylene, as the sole energy source. After the microorganism had oxidized some of the ethanol to acetic acid, the unassimilated alcohol and produced acetic acid were isolated from the supernatant. Carbon isotopic analyses of these compounds and the starting ethanol show: (1) the methyl carbon of the starting alcohol is enriched in carbon-13 by 4.6% relative to the hydroxyl carbon, (2) the starting alcohol contains 2% less carbon-13 than the unassimilated ethanol and (3) the carboxyl carbon of the acetic acid excreted by the A. suboxydans is enriched by 3.8% in carbon-13 relative to the methyl carbon. These results support earlier findings which indicate that organisms preferentially utilize compounds enriched in carbon-12 and tend to concentrate carbon-12 in the reduced carbons relative to the oxidized carbons of metabolic products.