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Acetobacterium woodii-Clostridium drakei CO2 Electrolysis Coculture

Community ID CommunityMech:000173
Ecological State ENGINEERED
Environment anaerobic laboratory bioreactor with in situ electrolysis — ontology label: laboratory environment
ENVO:01001405 · HabitatMech ↗

A defined anaerobic synthetic coculture that combines a lactate-producing Acetobacterium woodii mutant with Clostridium drakei to convert CO2 and H2 into longer-chain products. A. woodii fixes CO2 with H2 and is engineered to release lactate, which C. drakei uses as an intermediate for chain elongation to caproic acid. The system is DOE-relevant because it couples microbial CO2 valorization with in situ water electrolysis or CO2/H2 gas feeding for production of value chemicals.

Taxonomy

Taxon Ontology ID Functional Roles Abundance
Acetobacterium woodii NCBITaxon:33952 · TaxonMech · TraitMech
PRIMARY_PRODUCER CROSS_FEEDER
ABUNDANT
  • PMID:36619880 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "Acetobacterium woodii and Clostridium drakei"
  • PMID:36619880 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "a recombinant A. woodii strain"
Clostridium drakei NCBITaxon:332101 · TaxonMech · TraitMech
SECONDARY_FERMENTER CROSS_FEEDER
ABUNDANT
  • PMID:36619880 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "Clostridium drakei wild-type strain"
  • doi:10.3389/fbioe.2023.1212044 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "recombinant lactate-producing Acetobacterium woodii strain and a lactate-consuming Clostridium drakei strain"

Ecological Interactions

The graph shows only explicitly linked interaction participants. Community members without an asserted participant link are omitted; membership alone does not imply an interaction.

Ecological interaction network for Acetobacterium woodii-Clostridium drakei CO2 Electrolysis Coculture Bipartite graph where circles represent taxa and non-circular symbols represent interactions, with distinct shapes and colours for cross-feeding. Rare or untyped interactions share the Other symbol; exact curated types remain in the interaction details.
Taxon
Cross-feeding
Other

Acetogenic Lactate Production from CO2 and H2

CROSS_FEEDING

Recombinant A. woodii fixes CO2 with H2 and is engineered to route carbon toward lactate, creating the intermediate consumed by C. drakei.

Source Taxon: Acetobacterium woodii

Target Taxon: Clostridium drakei

Metabolites: carbon dioxide (CHEBI:16526 · MediaIngredientMech · CMMMech), dihydrogen (CHEBI:18276 · MediaIngredientMech · CMMMech), lactate (CHEBI:24996 · MediaIngredientMech · CMMMech)

Biological Processes:

Downstream Effects:
→ Lactate-Mediated Chain Elongation to Caproic Acid

A. woodii converts CO2 and H2 into lactate, the intermediate that C. drakei consumes for chain elongation to caproic acid in the coculture.

Evidence

  • PMID:36619880 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "Acetobacterium woodii is known to produce mainly acetate from CO2 and H2"
  • PMID:36619880 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "production of caproic acid from CO2 and H2 via the intermediate lactic acid"

Lactate-Mediated Chain Elongation to Caproic Acid

CROSS_FEEDING

C. drakei consumes lactate-derived carbon in the coculture and carries out chain elongation to caproic acid.

Participating Taxa: Acetobacterium woodii, Clostridium drakei

Metabolites: lactate (CHEBI:24996 · MediaIngredientMech · CMMMech), hexanoate (CHEBI:30776 · MediaIngredientMech · CMMMech)

Biological Processes:

Evidence

  • PMID:36619880 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "longer-chained products such as caproic acid"
  • PMID:36619880 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "production of caproic acid from CO2 and H2 via the intermediate lactic acid"

Electrolysis-Generated Hydrogen Supply

In situ water electrolysis supplies H2 to support autotrophic coculture operation, with hydrogen limitation identified as a process constraint.

Participating Taxa: Acetobacterium woodii

Metabolites: dihydrogen (CHEBI:18276 · MediaIngredientMech · CMMMech)

Downstream Effects:
→ Acetogenic Lactate Production from CO2 and H2

In situ electrolysis supplies the H2 electron donor used with CO2 by the recombinant A. woodii strain to form lactate for the chain-elongating partner.

Evidence

  • PMID:36619880 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "supplied using an All-in-One electrode for in situ water electrolysis"
  • PMID:36619880 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "Hydrogen limitation was identified in the AiO process"

External Resources

Name Repository Resource ID
Exact-system primary publication - in situ electrolysis CO2/H2 coculture
Primary publication establishing the A. woodii and C. drakei synthetic coculture for caproic acid production from CO2 and in situ generated H2 through lactic acid. 		OTHER PMID:36619880
  • PMID:36619880 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "Acetobacterium woodii and Clostridium drakei"
Exact-system publication - lactate-mediated mixotrophic cocultivation
Follow-up publication on lactate-mediated mixotrophic cocultivation of the same A. woodii and C. drakei species pair. 		OTHER doi:10.3389/fbioe.2023.1212044
  • doi:10.3389/fbioe.2023.1212044 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "recombinant lactate-producing Acetobacterium woodii strain and a lactate-consuming Clostridium drakei strain"
Exact-system publication - CO2/H2 bioreactor optimization
Bioreactor optimization publication for the same lactate-mediated A. woodii mutant and C. drakei coculture using CO2/H2 gas mixture as substrate. 		OTHER doi:10.1186/s12934-024-02481-3
  • doi:10.1186/s12934-024-02481-3 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "Acetobacterium woodii mutant strain, capable of lactate production, with the Clostridium drakei SL1 type strain"

Environmental Factors

Factor Value Unit
Gas substrate CO2 and H2 N/A
  • PMID:36619880 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "CO(2) and in situ generated H(2)"
Hydrogen delivery mode All-in-One electrode or direct H2 sparging N/A
  • PMID:36619880 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "direct H2 sparging"
  • PMID:36619880 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "Lactate concentrations as high as 0.5 g L-1"
Hydrogen limitation process-limiting under All-in-One electrode operation N/A
  • PMID:36619880 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "Hydrogen limitation was identified in the AiO process"

Growth Media

Anaerobic CO2/H2 electrolysis coculture

Atmosphere ANAEROBIC

Composition

Component Concentration Unit CHEBI
carbon dioxide · MediaIngredientMech N/A N/A CHEBI:16526
dihydrogen · MediaIngredientMech N/A N/A CHEBI:18276

Preparation notes: Mineral medium details are not curated here; the source-backed conditions are CO2/H2 supply, anaerobic cultivation, and comparison of in situ electrolysis with direct H2 sparging.

Evidence

PMID:36619880

"CO2 and H2 via the intermediate lactic acid"

doi:10.1186/s12934-024-02481-3

"CO2 as main carbon and energy source"

Cross-Mech Suite Links

Explore related entities across the CultureBotAI X-Mech knowledge bases:

HabitatMech: anaerobic laboratory bioreactor with in situ electrolysis ↗ TaxonMech: Acetobacterium woodii ↗ TraitMech: Acetobacterium woodii ↗ TaxonMech: Clostridium drakei ↗ TraitMech: Clostridium drakei ↗ CultureMech Growth Media ↗ PathwayMech Pathways ↗