Growth of Syntrophomonas wolfei in pure culture on crotonate

A Synthrophomonas wolfei-Methanospirillum hungatei coculture was adapted to catabolize crotonate. S. wolfei was then isolated in axenic culture using agar spread plates and roll tubes with crotonate as the sole energy source. S. wolfei catabolized crotonate via a disproportionation mechanism similar to that of some Clostridium species. Growth on crotonate was very slow (specific growth rate of 0.029 h^–1) but the conversion of energy into cell material was very efficient with cell yields of 14.6 g (dry wt.) per mol of crotonate. S. wolfei alone did not catabolize butyrate, but butyrate was stoichiometrically degraded to acetate and presumably methane when S. wolfei was reassociated with M. hungatei. S. wolfei-M. hungatei cocultures accumulated some butyrate during growth on crotonate indicating that protons were not the sole electron acceptors used for crotonate oxidation by the coculture.