Photoproduction of Hydrogen from Acetate by Rhodopseudomonas: Effect of Culture Conditions and Sequential Dark/Light Fermentation

Rhodopseudomonas palustris P4 can produce $H_2$ either from CO by water-gas shift reaction or from various sugars by anaerobic fermentation. Fermentative $H_2$ production by P4 is fast, but its yield is relatively low due to the formation of various organic acids. In order to increase $H_2$ production yield from glucose, P4 was investigated for the photo-fermentation of acetate which is a major by-product of fermentative $H_2$ production. Experiments were performed in batch modes using both light-grown and dark-grown cells. When the dark-grown P4 was challenged with light and acetate, $H_2$ was produced with the consumption of acetate after a lag period of 25 h. $H_2$ production was inhibited when a nitrogen source, especially ammonium, is present. When the dark-fermentation broth containing acetate was adopted for photo-fermentation with light-grown cells, $H_2$ production and concomitant acetate consumption occurred without a lag period. The $H_2$ yield was estimated as 2.4 - 2.8 mol $H_2/mol$ acetate and the specific $H_2$ production rate was as 9.8 ml $H_2/g$ cell${\cdot}$h, The fact that a single strain can perform both dark- and light-fermentation gives a great advantage in process development Compared to a one-step dark-fermentation, the combined dark- and light-fermentation can increase the $H_2$ production yield on glucose by two-fold.