Bioaugmentation of Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus TISTR 895 to enhance bio-hydrogen production of Rhodobacter sphaeroides KKU-PS5

BACKGROUND: Bioaugmentation or an addition of the desired microorganisms or specialized microbial strains into the anaerobic digesters can enhance the performance of microbial community in the hydrogen production process. Most of the studies focused on a bioaugmentation of native microorganisms capable of producing hydrogen with the dark-fermentative hydrogen producers while information on bioaugmentation of purple non-sulfur photosynthetic bacteria (PNSB) with lactic acid-producing bacteria (LAB) is still limited. In our study, bioaugmentation of Rhodobacter sphaeroides KKU-PS5 with Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus TISTR 895 was conducted as a method to produce hydrogen. Unfortunately, even though well-characterized microorganisms were used in the fermentation system, a cultivation of two different organisms in the same bioreactor was still difficult because of the differences in their metabolic types, optimal conditions, and nutritional requirements. Therefore, evaluation of the physical and chemical factors affecting hydrogen production of PNSB augmented with LAB was conducted using a full factorial design followed by response surface methodology (RSM) with central composite design (CCD). RESULTS: A suitable LAB/PNSB ratio and initial cell concentration were found to be 1/12 (w/w) and 0.15 g/L, respectively. The optimal initial pH, light intensity, and Mo concentration obtained from RSM with CCD were 7.92, 8.37 klux and 0.44 mg/L, respectively. Under these optimal conditions, a cumulative hydrogen production of 3396 ± 66 mL H(2)/L, a hydrogen production rate (HPR) of 9.1 ± 0.2 mL H(2)/L h, and a hydrogen yield (HY) of 9.65 ± 0.23 mol H(2)/mol glucose were obtained. KKU-PS5 augmented with TISTR 895 produced hydrogen from glucose at a relatively high HY, 9.65 ± 0.23 mol H(2)/mol glucose, i.e., 80 % of the theoretical yield. CONCLUSIONS: The ratio of the strains TISTR 895/KKU-PS5 and their initial cell concentrations affected the rate of lactic acid production and its consumption. A suitable LAB/PNSB ratio and initial cell concentration could balance the lactic acid production rate and its consumption in order to avoid lactic acid accumulation in the fermentation system. Through use of appropriate environmental conditions for bioaugmentation of PNSB with LAB, a hydrogen production could be enhanced. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13068-015-0375-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.