Overproduction of Hydrogen from an Anaerobic Bacterium

A derivative of the anaerobic bacterium Clostridium phytofermentans was isolated and shown to produce two moles of hydrogen per mole of glucose and similar yields from cellulosic feedstocks. The strain (cpnit-1) was selected for its rapid growth in a chemostat under nitrogen fixation conditions. The rare ability of cpnit-1 to stably, anaerobically produce hydrogen while rapidly fixing its own nitrogen provides a strong selection to maintain the culture and suggests a uniquely simple hydrogen reactor design based on renewable feedstocks.