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Mass Spectrometry-Guided Genome Mining as a Tool to Uncover Novel Natural Products

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Published on: March 12, 2020

Systems-informed genome mining for electroautotrophic microbial production.

Anthony J Abel¹, Jacob M Hilzinger², Adam P Arkin³

¹Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.

Bioelectrochemistry (Amsterdam, Netherlands)

|February 10, 2022

Summary

Electromicrobial production (EMP) systems efficiently convert renewable energy and CO2 into valuable molecules. Anaerobic nitrate respiration significantly boosts CO2 fixation rates in engineered microbes, surpassing aerobic limitations.

Keywords:

Electromicrobial production Extracellular electron transfer Genome mining Microbial electrosynthesis Multiphysics modeling

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Last Updated: Oct 4, 2025

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Published on: March 12, 2020

Heuristic Mining of Hierarchical Genotypes and Accessory Genome Loci in Bacterial Populations

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Generic Protocol for Optimization of Heterologous Protein Production Using Automated Microbioreactor Technology

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Published on: December 15, 2017

Area of Science:

Biotechnology
Microbial Engineering
Renewable Energy Storage

Background:

Electromicrobial production (EMP) offers a unique pathway to convert renewable energy and carbon dioxide (CO2) into valuable chemicals.
Current EMP systems face limitations in efficiency and scalability, particularly concerning CO2 fixation rates.
Direct electron uptake by microbes is a key mechanism for EMP, but its full potential is not yet realized.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the fundamental and practical limits of EMP systems utilizing direct electron uptake.
To identify potential electroautotrophic organisms and metabolic engineering strategies for enhanced EMP.
To guide the design of advanced EMP systems and microbial engineering approaches.

Main Methods:

Development of a multiphysics model to simulate EMP processes.
Systematic comparison of microbial respiration and carbon fixation strategies.
Phylogenetic analysis to predict electroautotrophic organisms and assess genetic tractability.

Main Results:

Under aerobic conditions, CO2 fixation is limited by oxygen mass transport (< 6 μmol/cm²/hr).
Anaerobic nitrate respiration enables significantly higher CO2 fixation rates (> 50 μmol/cm²/hr) via the reductive tricarboxylic acid cycle.
Identified numerous genetically tractable organisms requiring minimal protein expression (< 5) for electroautotrophy.

Conclusions:

EMP systems show promise for renewable energy storage and CO2 utilization.
Anaerobic respiration strategies, particularly with nitrate, are crucial for maximizing CO2 fixation in EMP.
The developed model and analysis provide a roadmap for engineering microbes and reactors for efficient EMP.