Journal of Bioprocessing & Biotechniques

Fructose-Mediated Elevation of Hydrogen Production in Glucose Tolerant Mutant of Synechocystis Sp. Strain PCC 6803 under the Dark Anaerobic Nitrate-Free Condition

Abstract

Adipa Chongsuksantikul, Kazuhiro Asami, Shiro Yoshikawa and Kazuhisa Ohtaguchi

Fructose is a potential additive that elevates a supply of electrons to hydrogenase for hydrogen production in cyanobacteria. A series of dark anaerobic hydrogen production experiments was performed to evaluate the validity of this assumption, in which fructose from 0 to 110 mmol/L was added to HEPES buffer solution on which a glucose tolerant mutant of unicellular cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. strain PCC 6803 (GT strain) was incubated. Despite the reported knowledge that fructose was an inhibitor for photoheterotrophic growth of Synechocystis cells, GT strain assimilated fructose and represented a limited heterotrophic growth on fructose in HEPES buffer solution under dark anaerobic condition. The initial hydrogen production rate that was 0.025 mmol/L h in run without fructose increased to 0.0917 mmol/L h in run with 60-83 mmol/L fructose. The associated increase in the initial amount of endogenous glucose from 0.22 mmol/L in run without fructose to 0.36 mmol/L in run with 50 mmol/L fructose was observed. Fructose released the complete suppression of hydrogen production by nitrate. This work presents the first experimental evidence that cells of GT strain are able to assimilate fructose for cell growth in dark anaerobic condition. Our results show that hydrogen production in Synechocystis sp. strain can be significantly elevated by a proper addition of fructose to dark anaerobic HEPES buffer solution.