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Long‐term continuous evolution of acetate resistant Acetobacter aceti
Author(s) -
Steiner Peter,
Sauer Uwe
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
biotechnology and bioengineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.136
H-Index - 189
eISSN - 1097-0290
pISSN - 0006-3592
DOI - 10.1002/bit.10741
Subject(s) - acetic acid , biology , escherichia coli , bacteria , biochemistry , chemistry , microbiology and biotechnology , genetics , gene
Elevated concentrations of cytotoxic acetate are found in many environmental niches, and few species are relatively resistant to acetate. In particular the high‐level acetate resistance of so‐called acetic acid bacteria that occurs in industrial settings must be constantly selected for. To investigate the nature of such high‐level resistance, we grew the moderately acetate‐resistant Acetobacter aceti wild‐type and acetate‐sensitive Escherichia coli in long‐term continuous cultures with increasing acetate concentrations at near neutral pH. While E. coli did not acquire any significant resistance after 125 generations of selection, A. aceti evolved the capability to grow at acetate concentrations exceeding 50 g/L within 240 generations. This phenotype was found to be stable for several generations in the absence of selective pressure, hence must be genetically determined. Intracellular acetate concentrations were significantly lower in evolved A. aceti , when compared to wild‐type A. aceti and E. coli, indicating that cytoplasmatic anion accumulation is an important component of acetate toxicity. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biotechnol Bioeng 84: 40–44, 2003.