초록
<P><I>Cellulomonas uda</I> (DSM 20108/ATCC 21399) is one of the few described cellulolytic facultative anaerobes. Based on these characteristics, we initiated a physiological study of <I>C. uda</I> with the aim to exploit it for cellulase production in simple bioreactors with no or sporadic aeration. Growth, cellulase activity and fermentation product formation were evaluated in different media under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions and in experiments where <I>C. uda</I> was exposed to alternating aerobic/anaerobic growth conditions. Here we show that <I>C. uda</I> behaves as a true facultative anaerobe when cultivated on soluble substrates such as glucose and cellobiose, but for reasons unknown cellulase activity is only induced under aerobic conditions on insoluble cellulosic substrates and not under anaerobic conditions. These findings enhance knowledge on the limited number of described facultative cellulolytic anaerobes, and in addition it greatly limits the utility of <I>C. uda</I> as an ‘easy to handle’ cellulase producer with low aeration demands.</P>