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Cited by 441Microbial Fuel Cells and BioremediationElectrochemical sensors and biosensorsAnaerobic Digestion and Biogas Production

Anode Biofilm Transcriptomics Reveals Outer Surface Components Essential for High Density Current Production in Geobacter sulfurreducens Fuel Cells

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Nevin, Kelly P., Kim, Byoung-Chan, Glaven, Richard H., Johnson, Jessica P., Woodard, Trevor L., Methé, Barbara A., DiDonato, Raymond J., Covalla, Sean F. +3 more·2009·PLoS ONE
DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0005628PMC PMC2680965
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Abstract

The mechanisms by which Geobacter sulfurreducens transfers electrons through relatively thick (>50 microm) biofilms to electrodes acting as a sole electron acceptor were investigated. Biofilms of Geobacter sulfurreducens were grown either in flow-through systems with graphite anodes as the electron acceptor or on the same graphite surface, but with fumarate as the sole electron acceptor. Fumarate-grown biofilms were not immediately capable of significant current production, suggesting substantial physiological differences from current-producing biofilms. Microarray analysis revealed 13 genes in current-harvesting biofilms that had significantly higher transcript levels. The greatest increases were for pilA, the gene immediately downstream of pilA, and the genes for two outer c-type membrane cytochromes, OmcB and OmcZ. Down-regulated genes included the genes for the outer-membrane c-type cytochromes, OmcS and OmcT. Results of quantitative RT-PCR of gene transcript levels during biofilm growth were consistent with microarray results. OmcZ and the outer-surface c-type cytochrome, OmcE, were more abundant and OmcS was less abundant in current-harvesting cells. Strains in which pilA, the gene immediately downstream from pilA, omcB, omcS, omcE, or omcZ was deleted demonstrated that only deletion of pilA or omcZ severely inhibited current production and biofilm formation in current-harvesting mode. In contrast, these gene deletions had no impact on biofilm formation on graphite surfaces when fumarate served as the electron acceptor. These results suggest that biofilms grown harvesting current are specifically poised for electron transfer to electrodes and that, in addition to pili, OmcZ is a key component in electron transfer through differentiated G. sulfurreducens biofilms to electrodes.

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Crossref · 10.1371/journal.pone.0005628

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  • Bacteria attached to the surface and channel of CA substrate were uniformly dispersed due to the roughness and porous structure of CA.

    “Fig. 2b shows that the bacteria attached to the surface and channel of CA substrate were uniformly dispersed due to the roughness and porous structure of CA, which conduces to the adsorption of organic species for the utilization of the bacteria [37,38].”

    From Self-supported microbial carbon aerogel bioelectrocatalytic anode promoting extracellular electron transfer for efficient hydrogen evolution (2019) · cites this paper as [38]

    The Results section (page unavailable) reports that G. sulfurreducens formed biofilms on graphite surfaces, supporting the general point that bacteria can attach to an electrode surface. It does not describe a CA substrate, uniform dispersion along its surface and channels, or roughness and porosity as the cause. (LLM, conf=0.76)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • The existence of micropores in CA is conducive to the adsorption of nutrients for bacteria and enrichment of electronic mediators (such as lactochrome), which could be applied as indirect electron transfer.

    “Second, the existence of micropores in CA is conducive to the adsorption of nutrients for bacteria and enrichment of electronic mediators (such as lactochrome) [6,38], which could be applied as indirect electron transfer.”

    From Self-supported microbial carbon aerogel bioelectrocatalytic anode promoting extracellular electron transfer for efficient hydrogen evolution (2019) · cites this paper as [38]

    The Introduction discusses electron transfer by G. sulfurreducens through bound mediators rather than soluble shuttles, but it does not address micropores in CA. Searches for micropores, nutrient adsorption, and lactochrome found no passage supporting the attributed mechanism. No page numbers are available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.76)

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Authors
Nevin, K. P., Kim, B.-C., Glaven, R. H., Johnson, J. P., Woodard, T. L., Methé, B. A., DiDonato, R. J., Covalla, S. F., Franks, A. E., Liu, A., & Lovley, D. R.
Affiliations
  • University of Massachusetts Amherst (US)
  • J. Craig Venter Institute (US)
Corresponding author
Nevin, Kelly P.
ORCID
Venue
PLoS ONE
Publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Published
2009-05-20
Volume
4
Issue
5
Pages
e5628
ISSN
1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0005628
PMC
PMC2680965
OpenAlex
W2112216401
Cited by
441
References
4
Citations by year
2026: 16 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 22 · 2023: 26 · 2022: 27 · 2021: 33 · 2020: 19 · 2019: 34 · 2018: 32 · 2017: 26 · 2016: 24 · 2015: 30 · 2014: 29 · 2013: 23 · 2012: 33
FWCI
27.32
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • ScholarWorks@UMassAmherst (University of Massachusetts Amherst) (submittedVersion)
  • Scholarworks (University of Massachusetts Amherst) (submittedVersion, public-domain)
  • ScholarWorks@UMassAmherst (University of Massachusetts Amherst) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • ScholarWorks@UMassAmherst (University of Massachusetts Amherst) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • U.S. Department of Energy (FC02-02ER63446)
  • Office of Science (FC02-02ER63446)
  • Office of Naval Research (N00014)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Engineering › Microbial Fuel Cells and Bioremediation
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Electrical and Electronic Engineering › Electrochemical sensors and biosensors
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Building and Construction › Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Production
Keywords
Geobacter sulfurreducens, microbial fuel cells, graphite anode, outer membrane cytochromes, OmcB, OmcS, Pila, fimbriae, fumarate, gene deletion, biofilm formation, current production
MeSH terms
Amino Acid Sequence, Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins, Bioelectric Energy Sources, Cytochromes, Electrodes, Electron Transport, Fumarates, Genetic Complementation Test, Molecular Sequence Data, Oxidation-Reduction, RNA, Messenger, Up-Regulation, Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial, Gene Deletion, Biofilms, Microscopy, Confocal, Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis, Gene Expression Profiling, Geobacter

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