题目：Maximizing electricity generation by suppressing methane production in microbial fuel cells
报告人：Husen Zhang （张虎森）, Ph.D.
Assistant Research Scientist
Center for Environmental Biotechnology
Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University

时间：2009年6月15日16：00
地点：方正大厦301会议室

报告摘要：
Replacing fossil fuels with renewable, carbon-neutral energy sources can slow and ultimately reverse the net release of CO2 into the atmosphere, which contributes to global warming.  One of the most promising renewable energy options is bioenergy using microorganisms. 
In particular, a large and untapped biomass source is residue biomass from wastes generated by humans and animals.  Conversion of these wastes to energy would meet approximately 25% of the world energy needs.  In a microbial fuel cell (MFC), bacteria extract electrons from the fuel in the anode compartment and pass them through an external circuit to the cathode to produce electricity.  In MFC systems using fermentable organics as fuels, hydrogen is formed by fermentative bacteria in the anode compartment, and consumed by methane-producing Archaea without contributing to current generation.  Thus, methanogenesis decreases the performance of the MFC.  When methanogenesis is suppressed, we found that electricity production increased by 24%. 
Using a suite of molecular biological tools including quantitative real-time PCR, functional gene clone libraries, and high-throughput pyrosequencing, we discovered that hydrogen-consuming homo-acetogens was responsible for the increased electricity recovery via acetate as an intermediate.  This case study clearly demonstrates the unique strength of integrating engineering and modern molecular biological techniques in optimizing microbial communities for enhanced energy recovery from renewable sources.  Future research plans include biodiesel production by microorganisms will also be discussed.