Acetogenesis is a process through which acetyl-CoA[1] or acetic acid is produced by anaerobic bacteria through the reduction of CO2 via the Wood–Ljungdahl pathway.
[1] In 1932, organisms were discovered that could convert hydrogen gas and carbon dioxide into acetic acid.
The first acetogenic bacterium species, Clostridium aceticum, was discovered in 1936 by Klaas Tammo Wieringa.
A second species, Moorella thermoacetica, attracted wide interest because of its ability, reported in 1942, to convert glucose into three moles of acetic acid,[3] a process called homoacetate fermentation.
The coupling of the methyl group (provided by methylcobalamin), the CO, and the coenzyme A is catalyzed by acetyl-CoA synthase.