The Energy Metabolism of <em>Clostridium kluyveri</em>.

The energy metabolism of Clostridium kluyveri has been reinvestigated. The organism was grown on ethanol, acetate and bicarbonate or, on crotonate and bicarbonate as the sole carbon sources. The net ATP gain (G)—moles of ATP produced per mole of substrate fermented or product formed-was determined. The G—values obtained show that ATP needed for growth is produced exclusively by a substrate-level phosphorylation using acetyl CoA as the ‘energy-rich’ intermediate and not by phosphorylation coupled to an electron-transport process, as has been widely assumed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]