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Bug juice: harvesting electricity with microorganisms

Nature Reviews Microbiology volume 4, pages 497–508 (2006)Cite this article

An Erratum to this article was published on 01 October 2006

Key Points

  • Microbial fuel cells have the potential to convert a wide diversity of organic wastes and renewable biomass to electricity. Many applications for microbial fuel cells are envisioned but, to date, the most practical use is the sediment microbial fuel cell, which is designed to recover electricity from the organic matter in aquatic sediments to power electronic-monitoring devices.

  • In a microbial fuel cell, electrons derived from the microbial oxidation of organic matter are transferred to the anode under anaerobic conditions and travel through the device that is to be powered into the cathode, where they combine with oxygen to form water.

  • It has recently been discovered that some microorganisms can completely oxidize organic compounds to carbon dioxide, with an electrode serving as the sole electron acceptor, and can conserve energy from this form of respiration. The term electricigens has been coined to describe such microorganisms.

  • Electricigen-powered microbial fuel cells can covert organic compounds to electricity more efficiently than earlier versions of microbial fuel cells, and do not require electron-shuttling mediators, which add cost, often have poor stability and can be toxic to humans. Furthermore, as long as fuel is available, electricigens are self-sustaining, resulting in fuel cells with long term stability.

  • The slow rate of conversion of organic matter to electricity in the currently available microbial fuel cells limits their application. Understanding the mechanisms of electron transfer to electrodes might help in designing anode materials that will promote faster electron transfer.

  • It is unlikely that there has been any selective pressure on electricigens to produce electricity at high rates in natural environments. Therefore, there could be substantial potential for optimizing this process with genetic engineering or adaptive evolution.

  • The availability of the complete genome sequence of several electricigens, such as Geobacter and Rhodoferax species, and the ability to track gene expression in electricigens growing on anodes, coupled with available genetic tools, is beginning to provide insights into the mechanisms of electron transfer to anodes.

  • Electrodes can also serve as an electron donor for microbial respiration and this might have applications for the removal of contaminants, such as toxic metals, nitrate and chlorinated solvents from polluted waters.

Abstract

It is well established that some reduced fermentation products or microbially reduced artificial mediators can abiotically react with electrodes to yield a small electrical current. This type of metabolism does not typically result in an efficient conversion of organic compounds to electricity because only some metabolic end products will react with electrodes, and the microorganisms only incompletely oxidize their organic fuels. A new form of microbial respiration has recently been discovered in which microorganisms conserve energy to support growth by oxidizing organic compounds to carbon dioxide with direct quantitative electron transfer to electrodes. These organisms, termed electricigens, offer the possibility of efficiently converting organic compounds into electricity in self-sustaining systems with long-term stability.

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Figure 1: Generalized pathway for the anaerobic oxidation of organic matter to carbon dioxide with Fe3+ oxide serving as an electron acceptor in temperate, freshwater and sedimentary environments.
Figure 2: Examples of microbial fuel cells producing electricity through different mechanisms of electron transfer to the anode.
Figure 3: A sediment microbial fuel cell.
Figure 4: Mechanisms by which reduced sulphur compounds can contribute to electricity production in sediment microbial fuel cells in sulphide-rich sediments.
Figure 5: A mechanism for extracellular electron transfer by Geobacter sulfurreducens.

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Acknowledgements

The author's research on microbial fuel cells and extracellular electron transfer is supported by the Office of Science (BER), U.S. Department of Energy under the Genomics GTL and ESRP Programs and the Office of Naval Research. Kelly Nevin provided the photographs of the microbial and sediment fuel cells.

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  1. Department of Microbiology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 01003, Massachusetts, USA

    Derek R. Lovley

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DATABASES

Entrez Genome Project

Desulfuromonas acetoxidans

Escherichia coli

Geobacter metallireducens

Geobacter sulfurreducens

Geothrix ferementans

Pseudomonas aeurginosa

Rhodoferax ferrireducens

Shewanella oneidensis

Shewanella putrefaciens

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Lovley, D. Bug juice: harvesting electricity with microorganisms. Nat Rev Microbiol 4, 497–508 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro1442

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