Project description:G. sulfurreducens can generate electricity from the oxidation of organic compounds. This is because it can take electrons from organic compounds and ship them out to the outer surface of the cell where they can then be deposited on various insoluble electron acceptors including electrodes. Cells attatched to the surface of an electrode oxidize acetate and and deposit the electrons derived from acetate onto the surface of the electrode after which they can travel through an electrical circuit, producing a current. Microbial fuel cells powered by acetate oxidation by Geobacter species are called Geobatteries. In this experiment we compared gene expression in a biofilm of the wild type strain growing on the surface of an electrode within a current-producing Geobattery to gene expression in a wild type biofilm that is not producing current, but is growing on the surface of an electrode. In both cases, the cells were growing in a flow-through two chambered H-cell Geobattery setup. This consists of two glass chambers, an anoxic anode chamber containing G. sulfurreducens, a graphite electrode, a reference electrode and growth medium and an oxic chamber containing the counter electrode. The two chambers are connected by a cation selective membrane and a wire connected to a potentionstat. A potentiostat is an instrument which maintains the redox potential of the anode at a fixed value relative to a reference electrode. Media continuously flowed through the anoxic anode chamber at a dilution rate of 0.15. In the experimental condition, the Geobattery was operational. The circuit was closed and G. sulfurreducens attached to the electrode generated current as it oxidized acetate. The redox potential at the anode was poised at 300 mV by the potentiostat. In the control condition, everything was the same, except that the medium in the anode chamber contained fumarate as electron acceptor, and the anode was not hooked up to the potentiostat i.e. the circuit was open. This prevented the anode from serving as an electron acceptor. Nevertheless a thick G. sulfurreducens biofilm grew on the surface of the electrode. The control and experimental geobatteries were harvested when current in the operational/experimental Geobatteries reached 10 mA. Keywords: two condition comparison

Project description:The ability of Geobacter species to readily donate electrons to extracellular electron acceptors makes the study of their physiology not only important for the understanding of environmental processes, but also for industrial applications such as bioelectronics and electrosynthesis. Studies in G. sulfurreducens have shown that outer surface components, such as c-type cytochromes and conductive type IV pili play an important role in direct electron transfer to extracellular electron acceptors such as Fe(III) oxides and electrodes. However, many of these thoroughly studied outer surface components, including c-type cytochromes, are not well conserved among Geobacter species. In order to better understand which components are involved in extracellular electron transfer in Geobacter species other than G. sulfurreducens, studies were conducted with its close relative G. metallireducens. Whole-genome microarray analysis revealed that 23 of the 91 putative c-type cytochromes encoded in the G. metallireducens genome were upregulated at least 2-fold in cells grown with Fe(III) oxide compared to cells in which Fe(III) citrate was provided as the terminal electron acceptor. Protein identification with liquid-chromatography/mass spectrometry detected 6 c-type cytochromes that were more abundant in the outer surface cell fraction of cells that were grown with Fe(III) oxide as the terminal electron acceptor compared to cells grown on Fe(III) citrate. 22 genes encoding c-type cytochromes were chosen for gene deletion. Deletion of 6 genes encoding for c-type cytochromes, a gene encoding for a lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis-associated protein, and a gene encoding for a NHL- repeat containing protein inhibited growth when Fe(III) oxide was provided as the electron acceptor. This study suggests that there are different roads for extracellular electron transfer in Geobacteraceae since homologous c-type cytochromes have different functions from one species to the other, and novel components not previously found to be essential for extracellular electron transfer were identified.

Project description:The ability of Geobacter species to readily donate electrons to extracellular electron acceptors makes the study of their physiology not only important for the understanding of environmental processes, but also for industrial applications such as bioelectronics and electrosynthesis. Studies in G. sulfurreducens have shown that outer surface components, such as c-type cytochromes and conductive type IV pili play an important role in direct electron transfer to extracellular electron acceptors such as Fe(III) oxides and electrodes. However, many of these thoroughly studied outer surface components, including c-type cytochromes, are not well conserved among Geobacter species. In order to better understand which components are involved in extracellular electron transfer in Geobacter species other than G. sulfurreducens, studies were conducted with its close relative G. metallireducens. Whole-genome microarray analysis revealed that 23 of the 91 putative c-type cytochromes encoded in the G. metallireducens genome were upregulated at least 2-fold in cells grown with Fe(III) oxide compared to cells in which Fe(III) citrate was provided as the terminal electron acceptor. Protein identification with liquid-chromatography/mass spectrometry detected 6 c-type cytochromes that were more abundant in the outer surface cell fraction of cells that were grown with Fe(III) oxide as the terminal electron acceptor compared to cells grown on Fe(III) citrate. 22 genes encoding c-type cytochromes were chosen for gene deletion. Deletion of 6 genes encoding for c-type cytochromes, a gene encoding for a lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis-associated protein, and a gene encoding for a NHL- repeat containing protein inhibited growth when Fe(III) oxide was provided as the electron acceptor. This study suggests that there are different roads for extracellular electron transfer in Geobacteraceae since homologous c-type cytochromes have different functions from one species to the other, and novel components not previously found to be essential for extracellular electron transfer were identified. An eight-chip study using total RNA recovered from four separate cultures of Geobacter metallireducens GS-15 grown with acetate (10mM)-Fe(III) oxide (100 mmol l-1) (experimental condition) or with acetate (10 mM)-Fe(III) citrate (55mM) (control condition) during exponential growth. Each chip measures the expression level of 3,627 genes from Geobacter metallireducens GS-15 with nine 45-60-mer probe pairs (PM/MM) per gene, with three-fold technical redundancy.

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Global transcriptional analysis of Geobacter sulfurreducens gsu1771-mutant in response to biofilm development in different supports

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