Utilization of (E)-2-butenoate (crotonate) by Clostridium kluyveri and some other Clostridium species.

Clostridium La 1 obtained from a Clostridium kluyveri culture was compared with a typical C. kluyvery strain (DSM 555). The former grows on cortonate and is unable to use ethanol-acetate as carbon sources. The latter grows on crotonate only after long adaptation periods. Resting cells of both strains show also pronounced differences in the fermentation of crotonate. This holds even for C. kluyveri grown on crotonate. Besides several other differences the most striking is that there is no hybridization between the DNA of both strains. Crotonate seems not to be a very special carbon source since C. butyricum and C. pasteurianum grow on crotonate medium supplemented by peptone and yeast extract.