Greenhouse gas emissions from rice microcosms amended with a plant microbial fuel cell

Methane (CH₄) release from wetlands is an important source of greenhouse gas emissions. Gas exchange occurs mainly through the aerenchyma of plants, and production of greenhouse gases is heavily dependent on rhizosphere biogeochemical conditions (i.e. substrate availability and redox potential). It...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Applied microbiology and biotechnology Vol. 98; no. 7; pp. 3205 - 3217
Main Authors:	Arends, Jan B. A, Speeckaert, Jonas, Blondeel, Evelyne, De Vrieze, Jo, Boeckx, Pascal, Verstraete, Willy, Rabaey, Korneel, Boon, Nico
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Berlin/Heidelberg Springer-Verlag 01-04-2014 Springer Berlin Heidelberg Springer Springer Nature B.V
Subjects:	Air pollution Analysis Archaea Archaea - growth & development Archaea - metabolism Atmospheric carbon dioxide Bacteria Bacteria - growth & development Bacteria - metabolism Biochemical fuel cells Bioelectric Energy Sources Biogeochemistry Biomedical and Life Sciences Biotechnology Carbon Carbon - metabolism Chemical oxygen demand Competition Ecology Electric circuits electric current Electric currents Electricity Electrodes Electrodes - microbiology electronic circuits electrons Emissions Environmental aspects Environmental Biotechnology Fuel cells fuels Gas exchange Greenhouse Effect greenhouse gas emissions Greenhouse gases harvesting Laboratories Life Sciences Metabolism Methane Methane - metabolism methanogens Microbial Genetics and Genomics Microbiology Microorganisms Organic carbon Oryza - microbiology Oryza sativa Physiological aspects Plants (organisms) Power plants quantitative polymerase chain reaction Redox potential Rhizosphere Rice Sediments Studies wetland plants Wetlands Belgium Methane Rhizosphere Hydrogenotrophic methanogens Bioelectrochemical system Microbial ecology Nitrous oxide Electrode material
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Summary:	Methane (CH₄) release from wetlands is an important source of greenhouse gas emissions. Gas exchange occurs mainly through the aerenchyma of plants, and production of greenhouse gases is heavily dependent on rhizosphere biogeochemical conditions (i.e. substrate availability and redox potential). It is hypothesized that by introducing a biocatalyzed anode electrode in the rhizosphere of wetland plants, a competition for carbon and electrons can be invoked between electrical current-generating bacteria and methanogenic Archaea. The anode electrode is part of a bioelectrochemical system (BES) capable of harvesting electrical current from microbial metabolism. In this work, the anode of a BES was introduced in the rhizosphere of rice plants (Oryza sativa), and the impact on methane emissions was monitored. Microbial current generation was able to outcompete methanogenic processes when the bulk matrix contained low concentrations of organic carbon, provided that the electrical circuit with the effective electroactive microorganisms was in place. When interrupting the electrical circuit or supplying an excess of organic carbon, methanogenic metabolism was able to outcompete current generating metabolism. The qPCR results showed hydrogenotrophic methanogens were the most abundant methanogenic group present, while mixotrophic or acetoclastic methanogens were hardly detected in the bulk rhizosphere or on the electrodes. Competition for electron donor and acceptor were likely the main drivers to lower methane emissions. Overall, electrical current generation with BESs is an interesting option to control CH₄ emissions from wetlands but needs to be applied in combination with other mitigation strategies to be successful and feasible in practice.
Bibliography:	http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00253-013-5328-5 ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0175-7598 1432-0614
DOI:	10.1007/s00253-013-5328-5