Environmental factors affecting the succinic acid production by Actinobacillus succinogenes CGMCC 1593

Actinobacillus succinogenes is a promising candidate for the production of bio-based succinic acid. Previously, we isolated a succinic acid-producing strain Actinobacillus succinogenes CGMCC 1593 from bovine rumen. In this paper, the influence of the environmental factors such as gas phase, pH, ORP, on succinic acid production by A. succinogenes CGMCC 1593 was studied. The results showed that CO₂ was the optimum gas phase for anaerobic fermentation of A. succinogenes CGMCC 1593 as well as one of the substrate for the succinic acid synthesis. Using MgCO₃ as a pH regulator, the pH was maintained within 7.1-6.2 during the anaerobic fermentation for the cell growth and acid production of A. succinogenes CGMCC 1593. Our results showed that low initial ORP was disadvantageous for the growth of A. succinogenes CGMCC 1593 and an ORP of -270 mV was demonstrated to be beneficial to the succinic acid production. By adding Na₂S · 9H₂O to decrease ORP to -270 mV at the end of exponential growth phase in batch culture of A. succinogenes CGMCC 1593, the succinic acid concentration reached 37 g/L and the yield of succinic acid was 129% at 48 h. This work might provide valuable information for further optimization of succinic acid fermentation by A. succinogenes CGMCC 1593.