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Microbial electron transport and energy conservation – the foundation for optimizing bioelectrochemical systems

Microbial electrochemical techniques describe a variety of emerging technologies that use electrode–bacteria interactions for biotechnology applications including the production of electricity, waste and wastewater treatment, bioremediation and the production of valuable products. Central in each ap...

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Autores principales: Kracke, Frauke, Vassilev, Igor, Krömer, Jens O.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4463002/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26124754
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2015.00575
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author Kracke, Frauke
Vassilev, Igor
Krömer, Jens O.
author_facet Kracke, Frauke
Vassilev, Igor
Krömer, Jens O.
author_sort Kracke, Frauke
collection PubMed
description Microbial electrochemical techniques describe a variety of emerging technologies that use electrode–bacteria interactions for biotechnology applications including the production of electricity, waste and wastewater treatment, bioremediation and the production of valuable products. Central in each application is the ability of the microbial catalyst to interact with external electron acceptors and/or donors and its metabolic properties that enable the combination of electron transport and carbon metabolism. And here also lies the key challenge. A wide range of microbes has been discovered to be able to exchange electrons with solid surfaces or mediators but only a few have been studied in depth. Especially electron transfer mechanisms from cathodes towards the microbial organism are poorly understood but are essential for many applications such as microbial electrosynthesis. We analyze the different electron transport chains that nature offers for organisms such as metal respiring bacteria and acetogens, but also standard biotechnological organisms currently used in bio-production. Special focus lies on the essential connection of redox and energy metabolism, which is often ignored when studying bioelectrochemical systems. The possibility of extracellular electron exchange at different points in each organism is discussed regarding required redox potentials and effect on cellular redox and energy levels. Key compounds such as electron carriers (e.g., cytochromes, ferredoxin, quinones, flavins) are identified and analyzed regarding their possible role in electrode–microbe interactions. This work summarizes our current knowledge on electron transport processes and uses a theoretical approach to predict the impact of different modes of transfer on the energy metabolism. As such it adds an important piece of fundamental understanding of microbial electron transport possibilities to the research community and will help to optimize and advance bioelectrochemical techniques.
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spelling pubmed-44630022015-06-29 Microbial electron transport and energy conservation – the foundation for optimizing bioelectrochemical systems Kracke, Frauke Vassilev, Igor Krömer, Jens O. Front Microbiol Microbiology Microbial electrochemical techniques describe a variety of emerging technologies that use electrode–bacteria interactions for biotechnology applications including the production of electricity, waste and wastewater treatment, bioremediation and the production of valuable products. Central in each application is the ability of the microbial catalyst to interact with external electron acceptors and/or donors and its metabolic properties that enable the combination of electron transport and carbon metabolism. And here also lies the key challenge. A wide range of microbes has been discovered to be able to exchange electrons with solid surfaces or mediators but only a few have been studied in depth. Especially electron transfer mechanisms from cathodes towards the microbial organism are poorly understood but are essential for many applications such as microbial electrosynthesis. We analyze the different electron transport chains that nature offers for organisms such as metal respiring bacteria and acetogens, but also standard biotechnological organisms currently used in bio-production. Special focus lies on the essential connection of redox and energy metabolism, which is often ignored when studying bioelectrochemical systems. The possibility of extracellular electron exchange at different points in each organism is discussed regarding required redox potentials and effect on cellular redox and energy levels. Key compounds such as electron carriers (e.g., cytochromes, ferredoxin, quinones, flavins) are identified and analyzed regarding their possible role in electrode–microbe interactions. This work summarizes our current knowledge on electron transport processes and uses a theoretical approach to predict the impact of different modes of transfer on the energy metabolism. As such it adds an important piece of fundamental understanding of microbial electron transport possibilities to the research community and will help to optimize and advance bioelectrochemical techniques. Frontiers Media S.A. 2015-06-11 /pmc/articles/PMC4463002/ /pubmed/26124754 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2015.00575 Text en Copyright © 2015 Kracke, Vassilev and Krömer. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Microbiology
Kracke, Frauke
Vassilev, Igor
Krömer, Jens O.
Microbial electron transport and energy conservation – the foundation for optimizing bioelectrochemical systems
title Microbial electron transport and energy conservation – the foundation for optimizing bioelectrochemical systems
title_full Microbial electron transport and energy conservation – the foundation for optimizing bioelectrochemical systems
title_fullStr Microbial electron transport and energy conservation – the foundation for optimizing bioelectrochemical systems
title_full_unstemmed Microbial electron transport and energy conservation – the foundation for optimizing bioelectrochemical systems
title_short Microbial electron transport and energy conservation – the foundation for optimizing bioelectrochemical systems
title_sort microbial electron transport and energy conservation – the foundation for optimizing bioelectrochemical systems
topic Microbiology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4463002/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26124754
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2015.00575
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