Abstract—A metabolic model was constructed in matrix formalism for hydrogen production by the purple non-sulfur bacteria Rhodobacter sphaeroides involving 183 reactions and 153 metabolites. Assuming pseudo-steady state, mass balances were performed for each metabolite and the resulting equations were solved using optimization. The objective function was the maximization of the hydrogen production. The comparison of the experimental and computational results indicated the importance of light in hydrogen production.

Index Terms—Hydrogen, Metabolic Flux Balance Analysis, Purple Non-sulfur Bacteria, Rhodobacter sphaeroides.

P. Chongcharoentaweesuk is with Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science School, University of Manchester, M13 9PL, UK (corresponding author to provide phone: +44 (0) 1613064369; fax: +44 (0) 1613069321; e-mail: pasika.chongcharoentaweesuk@ postgrad.manchester.ac.uk).
F. Mavituna is with Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science School, University of Manchester, M13 9PL, UK (e-mail: ferda.mavituna@manchester.ac.uk).
J. Zhang was with Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science School, University of Manchester, M13 9PL, UK (e-mail: op342435@gmail.com).

Cite: Pasika Chongcharoentaweesuk, Jiangdong Zhang, and Ferda Mavituna, "Metabolic Flux Balance Analysis of the Primary Metabolism for Hydrogen Production in Purple Non-sulfur Bacteria," International Journal of Bioscience, Biochemistry and Bioinformatics vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 159-162, 2011.