The growth and botulinic toxin production of
Clostridium argentinense G 89 HT in co-culture with
Pseudomonas mendocina were studied using two culture systems with carbon sources of rapid and slow utilization. Growth with glucose in homogeneous
co-culture presented a dual-phase progression, with the toxin produced in the slow-growing phase. The extended 50 h growth
period of the second phase at low specific growth rate was attributed to the combined metabolization of glucose and a complex
carbon source of the alginate type produced by
P. mendocina under strongly reducing conditions. With dextrin, the co-culture grew at the lower specific growth rate (μ = 0.03 h
−1) for a period lasting 80 h. This fully enhanced the production of toxin with a specific toxicity 2.5 times higher than with
glucose in a homogeneous system and 10.7 higher than that of
C. argentinense G 89 HT single culture. The heterogeneous co-culture obtained with a dialysis membrane physically separating both bacteria
(thereby eliminating the metabolic interaction) produced the lowest levels of growth and toxin of all the cases analyzed.
Keywords
Clostridium argentinense
-
Pseudomonas mendocina
- Co-culture-botulinic toxin - Carbon sources