Transmembrane pH gradient and membrane potential in Clostridium acetobutylicum during growth under acetogenic and solventogenic conditions

Abstract

The proton motive force and its electrical and chemical components were determined in Clostridium acetobutylicum, grown in a phosphate-limited chemostat, using [14C]dimethyloxazolidinedione and [14C]benzoic acid as transmembrane pH gradient (ΔpH) probes and [14C]triphenylmethyl as a membrane potential (Δψ) indicator. The cells maintained an internal-alkaline pH gradient of approximately 0.2 at pH 6.5 and 1.5 at pH 4.5. The ΔpH was essentially constant between pH 6.5 and 5.5 but increased considerably at lower extracellular pH values down to 4.5. Hence, the intracellular pH fell from 6.7 to 6.0 as the external pH was lowered from 6.5 to 5.5 but did not decrease further when the external pH was decreased to 4.5. The transmembrane electrical potential decreased as the external pH decreased. At pH 6.5, Δψ was approximately -90 mV, whereas no negative Δψ was detectable at pH 4.5. The proton motive force was calculated to be -106 mV at pH 6.5 and -102 mV at pH 4.5. The ability to maintain a high internal pH at a low extracellular pH suggests that C. acetobutylicum has an efficient deacidification mechanism which expresses itself through the production of neutral solvents.