''Clostridium pasteurianum'' (previously known as ''Clostridium pastorianum'') is a bacterium discovered in 1890 by the Russian microbiologist

Sergei Winogradsky Sergei Nikolaievich Winogradsky (or Vinohradsky; published under the name of Sergius Winogradsky or M. S. Winogradsky from Ukrainian Mykolayovych Serhiy; uk, Сергій Миколайович Виноградський; 1 September 1856 – ...

. It was the first free living (non-symbiotic) micro-organism discovered that could fix free nitrogen from the air. ''Clostridium pasteurianum'' is a producer of carboxylic acids. It has the ability to convert carbohydrates to butyrate, acetate, carbon dioxide, and molecular hydrogen through fermentation. Similar to ''Clostridium acetobutylicum'', ''Clostridium pasteurianum'' also has the ability to switch from acid to solvent production under certain growth conditions, Several efforts have been made to document its growth conditions; however, it is still unclear whether the growth parameters which have been shown to produce favorable solvent production in ''C. acetobutylicum'' played a significant role in the regulation of metabolism in ''C. pasteurianum'' in a similar fashion. It produces the gaseous alteration of canned fruits and tomatoes and does not develop at a pH lower than 3.7. ''C. pasteurianum'' is a

mesophile A mesophile is an organism that grows best in moderate temperature, neither too hot nor too cold, with an optimum growth range from . The optimum growth temperature for these organisms is 37°C. The term is mainly applied to microorganisms. Organi ...

Taxonomy

Initially named ''Clostridium pastorianum'' by Winogradsky, its name was later changed to the current spelling.

Morphology

''Clostridium pasteurianum'' is a large,

Gram-positive In bacteriology, gram-positive bacteria are bacteria that give a positive result in the Gram stain test, which is traditionally used to quickly classify bacteria into two broad categories according to their type of cell wall. Gram-positive bacte ...

spore In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many plants, algae, f ...

-forming bacillus. It is a soil bacterium, and an

obligate anaerobe Obligate anaerobes are microorganisms killed by normal atmospheric concentrations of oxygen (20.95% O2). Oxygen tolerance varies between species, with some species capable of surviving in up to 8% oxygen, while others lose viability in environm ...

References

External links

Type strain of ''Clostridium pasteurianum'' at Bac''Dive'' - the Bacterial Diversity Metadatabase
Gram-positive bacteria Bacteria described in 1895 pasteurianum {{Firmicutes-stub