Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 11, 2026
10:23
Characterizing Mediated Extracellular Electron Transfer in Lactic Acid Bacteria with a Three-Electrode, Two-Chamber Bioelectrochemical System
Published on: August 23, 2024
eFormate-mediated CO2 bioconversion: A modular electrochemical-microbial cascade compared across a diverse set of
Jihoon Choi1,2, Nicolas Grandel3, Deepika Awasthi3,4
1Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720.
Summary
This study presents a new platform integrating electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction with microbial systems. It enables efficient formate production for diverse microbial growth and multicarbon product generation.
Area of Science:
- Biotechnology
- Electrochemistry
- Synthetic Biology
Background:
- Electrochemical CO2 reduction is limited in multicarbon product diversity.
- Biochemical CO2 conversion suffers from slow mass transfer rates.
- Integrating electrochemical and biosynthetic processes is promising but underexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a modular abiotic-biotic platform for enhanced carbon fixation.
- To enable electrochemically produced formate (eFormate) supply to various microbial systems.
- To expand the microbial design space for CO2 upgrading.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a SnO2 catalyst for efficient formate production via electrochemical CO2 reduction.
- Developed a method to convert concentrated formate solution into a biocompatible feedstock.
- Evaluated 13 microbial strains for growth on formate and subsequent product secretion.
Main Results:
- Produced 0.87 M formate solution within 4 hours.
- 10 out of 13 tested microbial strains showed robust growth on the formate feedstock.
- Successful secretion of multicarbon products (acetate, ethanol, lactate) and PHB observed.
Conclusions:
- Established a broadly applicable abiotic-biotic platform for CO2 conversion.
- Demonstrated successful coupling of CO2 electrolysis with microbial carbon upgrading.
- Expanded the range of microbial strains applicable in combined electro-biosynthetic systems.
Related Concept Videos
01:23Microbial Fuel Cells
Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are bioelectrochemical devices that generate electricity by exploiting the metabolic processes of electrogenic bacteria. These systems provide a renewable energy source and serve as an innovative method for treating organic waste, such as wastewater.A typical MFC consists of two chambers: an anoxic (oxygen-free) compartment that houses the bacteria and an oxic (oxygen-rich) compartment that contains oxygen as the terminal electron acceptor. Many MFCs use proton...
01:18Deep Sea Microbial Ecology
The deep ocean and its underlying sediments represent vast, largely unexplored microbial habitats that extend far beyond the sunlit photic zone. The photic (euphotic) zone typically spans the upper ~100–200 meters of pelagic waters in the open ocean, but its depth varies geographically and seasonally, where sufficient light supports photosynthetic life. Below this lies the deep sea, spanning roughly 1000–6000 meters (bathypelagic to abyssal zones), with deeper hadal trenches extending beyond...
01:28Microbial Nutrition
Organisms exhibit remarkable metabolic diversity, categorized based on how they acquire energy and carbon. These strategies enable survival in various ecological niches and are essential for maintaining energy flow and nutrient cycling within ecosystems.Energy and Carbon SourcesOrganisms are classified as phototrophs or chemotrophs based on energy acquisition. Phototrophs use light as their energy source, while chemotrophs rely on oxidizing chemical compounds. Further differentiation arises...
01:24iChip
The cultivation of environmental microorganisms has long been hindered by the inability to replicate complex native conditions in vitro. The isolation chip (iChip) addresses this limitation by facilitating the growth of previously uncultivable microorganisms through in situ incubation. Designed for high-throughput microbial cultivation, the iChip comprises hundreds of microchambers, each capable of housing a single microbial cell. These microchambers are loaded with a mixture of molten agar and...
01:22Bioreactor Controls-III
Strain improvement is a foundational strategy in industrial microbiology aimed at maximizing microbial productivity, particularly because natural isolates typically yield commercially valuable products in very low concentrations. Although optimizing the culture medium and environmental conditions can improve yields, these adjustments are inherently limited by the organism’s genetic potential. As a result, the focus shifts toward genetic modifications to enhance biosynthetic capacity. The...
01:17Microbial Biosensors
Microbial biosensors are analytical devices that utilize living microbes to detect specific substances through measurable signals. These devices consist of two main components: biosensing organisms and signal-transducing elements. Biosensing organisms, such as Escherichia coli or Saccharomyces cerevisiae, are typically housed in multiwell plates connected to transducers, enabling rapid, real-time detection of target analytes.Signal Generation MechanismWhen a target analyte—such as...