Clostridium ljungdahlii is an anaerobic, rod-shaped, motile, endospore-forming, gram-positive bacterium.[1] It is named after the biochemist Lars G. Ljungdahl.[2] When originally harvested from the waste matter of animals, it tended to produce acetate with respect to ethanol, but a major undertaking to increase the ethanol-to-acetate ratio was initiated. A 1993 publication by researchers from the University of Arkansas, in cooperation with Oak Ridge National Laboratories, showed results from a series of continuous reactor studies caused a major change in the bacterium's preference for ethanol production, which increased from <0.1 g/L to 1.8 g/L in a continuous stirred tank reactor.[3]
Clostridium ljungdahlii | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Bacteria |
Phylum: | Bacillota |
Class: | Clostridia |
Order: | Eubacteriales |
Family: | Lachnospiraceae |
Genus: | Clostridium |
Species: | C. ljungdahlii
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Binomial name | |
Clostridium ljungdahlii Tanner et al. 1993
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This species can ferment certain components of syngas into ethanol.[4] It also possesses properties of electrosynthesis, producing acetate on cathodes.[citation needed]