Optimization of Influential Nutrients during Direct Cellulose Fermentation into Hydrogen by Clostridium thermocellum

Combinatorial effects of influential growth nutrients were investigated in order to enhance hydrogen (H(2)) production during direct conversion of cellulose by Clostridium thermocellum DSM 1237. A central composite face-centered design and response surface methodology (RSM) were applied to optimize concentrations of cellulose, yeast extract (YE), and magnesium chloride (Mg) in culture. The overall optimum composition generated by the desirability function resulted in 57.28 mmol H(2)/L-culture with 1.30 mol H(2)/mol glucose and 7.48 mmol/(g·cell·h) when cultures contained 25 g/L cellulose, 2 g/L YE, and 1.75 g/L Mg. Compared with the unaltered medium, the optimized medium produced approximately 3.2-fold more H(2) within the same time-frame with 50% higher specific productivity, which are also better than previously reported values from similar studies. Nutrient composition that diverted carbon and electron flux away from H(2) promoting ethanol production was also determined. This study represents the first investigation dealing with multifactor optimization with RSM for H(2) production during direct cellulose fermentation.