Previous studies have suggested that members of the Geobacteraceae can use electrodes as electron acceptors for anaerobic respiration. In order to better understand this electron transfer process for energy production, Geobacter sulfurreducens was inoculated into chambers in which a graphite electrode served as the sole electron acceptor and acetate or hydrogen was the electron donor. The electron-accepting electrodes were maintained at oxidizing potentials by connecting them to similar electrodes in oxygenated medium (fuel cells) or to potentiostats that poised electrodes at +0.2 V versus an Ag/AgCl reference electrode (poised potential). When a small inoculum of G. sulfurreducens was introduced into electrode-containing chambers, electrical current production was dependent upon oxidation of acetate to carbon dioxide and increased exponentially, indicating for the first time that electrode reduction supported the growth of this organism. When the medium was replaced with an anaerobic buffer lacking nutrients required for growth, acetate-dependent electrical current production was unaffected and cells attached to these electrodes continued to generate electrical current for weeks. This represents the first report of microbial electricity production solely by cells attached to an electrode. Electrode-attached cells completely oxidized acetate to levels below detection (<10 micro M), and hydrogen was metabolized to a threshold of 3 Pa. The rates of electron transfer to electrodes (0.21 to 1.2 micro mol of electrons/mg of protein/min) were similar to those observed for respiration with Fe(III) citrate as the electron acceptor (E(o)' =+0.37 V). The production of current in microbial fuel cell (65 mA/m(2) of electrode surface) or poised-potential (163 to 1,143 mA/m(2)) mode was greater than what has been reported for other microbial systems, even those that employed higher cell densities and electron-shuttling compounds. Since acetate was completely oxidized, the efficiency of conversion of organic electron donor to electricity was significantly higher than in previously described microbial fuel cells. These results suggest that the effectiveness of microbial fuel cells can be increased with organisms such as G. sulfurreducens that can attach to electrodes and remain viable for long periods of time while completely oxidizing organic substrates with quantitative transfer of electrons to an electrode.

/pdf/electricity-production-by-geobacter-sulfurreducens-attached-1noekcfff9.pdf

Electricity production by geobacter sulfurreducens attached to electrodes

The use of microbial fuel cells to generate electrical current is increasingly being seen as a viable source of renewable energy production In this Progress article, Bruce Logan highlights recent advances in our understanding of the mechanisms used by exoelectrogenic bacteria to generate electrical current and the important factors to consider in microbial fuel cell design There has been an increase in recent years in the number of reports of microorganisms that can generate electrical current in microbial fuel cells Although many new strains have been identified, few strains individually produce power densities as high as strains from mixed communities Enriched anodic biofilms have generated power densities as high as 69 W per m2 (projected anode area), and therefore are approaching theoretical limits To understand bacterial versatility in mechanisms used for current generation, this Progress article explores the underlying reasons for exocellular electron transfer, including cellular respiration and possible cell–cell communication

Exoelectrogenic bacteria that power microbial fuel cells

https://www.cell.com/trends/biotechnology/pdf/S0167-7799(05)00092-2.pdf

Microbial fuel cells: novel biotechnology for energy generation

Bacteria able to transfer electrons to metals are key agents in biogeochemical metal cycling, subsurface bioremediation, and corrosion processes. More recently, these bacteria have gained attention as the transfer of electrons from the cell surface to conductive materials can be used in multiple applications. In this work, we adapted electrochemical techniques to probe intact biofilms of Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 and Shewanella sp. MR-4 grown by using a poised electrode as an electron acceptor. This approach detected redox-active molecules within biofilms, which were involved in electron transfer to the electrode. A combination of methods identified a mixture of riboflavin and riboflavin-5′-phosphate in supernatants from biofilm reactors, with riboflavin representing the dominant component during sustained incubations (>72 h). Removal of riboflavin from biofilms reduced the rate of electron transfer to electrodes by >70%, consistent with a role as a soluble redox shuttle carrying electrons from the cell surface to external acceptors. Differential pulse voltammetry and cyclic voltammetry revealed a layer of flavins adsorbed to electrodes, even after soluble components were removed, especially in older biofilms. Riboflavin adsorbed quickly to other surfaces of geochemical interest, such as Fe(III) and Mn(IV) oxy(hydr)oxides. This in situ demonstration of flavin production, and sequestration at surfaces, requires the paradigm of soluble redox shuttles in geochemistry to be adjusted to include binding and modification of surfaces. Moreover, the known ability of isoalloxazine rings to act as metal chelators, along with their electron shuttling capacity, suggests that extracellular respiration of minerals by Shewanella is more complex than originally conceived.

https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/105/10/3968.full.pdf

Shewanella secretes flavins that mediate extracellular electron transfer

A state of the art review on microbial fuel cells: A promising technology for wastewater treatment and bioenergy.

Anaerobically grown cells of an Fe(III)-reducing bacterium, Shewanella putrefaciens IR-1, were electrochemically active with an apparent reduction potential of about 0.15 V against a saturated calomel electrode in the cyclic voltammetry. The bacterium did not grow fermentatively on lactate, but grew in an anode compartment of a three-electrode electrochemical cell using lactate as an electron donor and the electrode as the electron acceptor. This property was shared by a large number of Fe(III)-reducing bacterial isolates. This is the first observation of a direct electrochemical reaction by an intact bacterial cell, which is believed to be possible due to the electron carrier(s) located at the cell surface involved in the reduction of the natural water insoluble electron acceptor, Fe(III).

http://www.koreascience.or.kr:80/article/JAKO199911922242949.pdf

Direct Electrode Reaction of Fe(III)-Reducing Bacterium, Shewanella putrefaciens

Selectivity of desulfurization activity of Desulfovibrio desulfuricans M6 on different petroleum products

When cultivated aerobically, Aspergillus niger hyphae produced extracellular glucoamylase, which catalyzes the saccharification of unliquified potato starch into glucose, but not when grown under anaerobic conditions. The Km and Vmax of the extracellular glucoamylase were 652.3 mg starch l-1 and 253.3 mg glucose l-1 min-1, respectively. In mixed culture of A. niger and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, oxygen had a negative influence on the alcohol fermentation of yeast, but activated fungal growth. Therefore, oxygen is a critical factor for ethanol production in the mixed culture, and its generation through electrolysis of water in an electrochemical bioreactor needs to be optimized for ethanol production from starch by coculture of fungal hyphae and yeast cells. By applying pulsed electric fields (PEF) into the electrochemical bioreactor, ethanol production from starch improved significantly: Ethanol produced from 50 g potato starch l-1 by a mixed culture of A. niger and S. cerevisiae was about 5 g l-1 in a conventional bioreactor, but was 9 g l-1 in 5 volts of PEF and about 19 g l-1 in 4 volts of PEF for 5 days.

http://www.koreascience.or.kr:80/article/JAKO200832642389623.pdf

Production of ethanol directly from potato starch by mixed culture of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Aspergillus niger using electrochemical bioreactor.

Zymomonas mobilis was immobilized in a modified graphite felt cathode with neutral red (NR-graphite cathode) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae was cultivated on a platinum plate anode to electrochemically activate ethanol fermentation. Electrochemical redox reaction was induced by 3 approximately 4 volt of electric potential charged to a cathode and an anode. Z. mobilis produced 1.3 approximately 1.5 M of ethanol in the cathode compartment and S. cerevisiae did 1.7 approximately 1.9 M in the anode compartment for 96 hr. The ethanol production by Z. mobilis immobilized in the NR-graphite cathode and S. cerevisiae cultivated on the platinum plate was 1.5 approximately 1.6 times higher than those cultivated in the conventional condition. The electrochemical oxidation potential greatly inhibited ethanol fermentation of Z. mobilis but did not S. cerevisiae. Total soluble protein pattern of Z. mobilis cultivated in the electrochemical oxidation condition was getting simplified in proportion to potential intensity based on SDS-PAGE pattern; however the SDS-PAGE pattern of protein extracted from S. cerevisiae cultivated in both oxidation and reduction condition was not changed. When Z. mobilis culture incubated in the cathode compartment for 24 hr was transferred to S. cerevisiae culture in the anode compartment, 0.8 approximately 0.9 M of ethanol was additionally produced by S. cerevisiae for another 24 hr. Conclusively, total 2.0 approximately 2.1 M of ethanol was produced by the electrochemical redox coupling of Z. mobilis and S. cerevisiae for 48 hr.

https://koreascience.or.kr:443/article/JAKO201014035210315.pdf

Improvement of Ethanol Production by Electrochemical Redox Combination of Zymomonas mobilis and Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Approximately 0.1 mg/ml of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) was degraded by the growing cell, Brevibacillus laterosporus, for 30 h, and 0.2 mg/ml of PVA was degraded by the cell-free extract that was isolated from Brevibacillus laterosporus. Approximately 0.29 μg/ml of acetic acid was produced from PVA by using the cell-free extract as a catalyst for 40 min. V max and K m value of purified PAV-degradation enzyme was 3.75 g/l and 2.75 g/l/min in reaction without EDTA and 3.99 g/l and 2.98 g/l/min in reaction with EDTA, respectively. Molecular weight of the purified enzyme determined by SDS-PAGE was 63,000 Da. Alcohol dehydrogenase and aldehyde dehydrogenase activities were qualitatively detected on a native acrylamide gel by an active staining method, indicating the existence of the metabolic pathway to use PVA as a substrate.

Doo Hyun Park

Papers

Direct Electrode Reaction of Fe(III)-Reducing Bacterium, Shewanella putrefaciens

Selectivity of desulfurization activity of Desulfovibrio desulfuricans M6 on different petroleum products

Production of ethanol directly from potato starch by mixed culture of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Aspergillus niger using electrochemical bioreactor.

Improvement of Ethanol Production by Electrochemical Redox Combination of Zymomonas mobilis and Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Degradation of Polyvinyl Alcohol by Brevibacillus laterosporus: metabolic Pathway of Polyvinyl Alcohol to Acetate