Microbial Communities Associated with Electrodes Harvesting Electricity from a Variety of Aquatic Sediments

The microbial communities associated with electrodes from underwater fuel cells harvesting electricity from five different aquatic sediments were investigated. Three fuel cells were constructed with marine, salt-marsh, or freshwater sediments incubated in the laboratory. Fuel cells were also deploye...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Microbial ecology Vol. 48; no. 2; pp. 178 - 190
Main Authors:	Holmes, D.E, Bond, D.R, O’Neil, R.A, Reimers, C.E, Tender, L.R, Lovley, D.R
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	New York, NY Springer-Verlag 01-10-2004 Springer Science + Business Media, Inc Springer Springer Nature B.V
Subjects:	Anodes Bacteria Base Sequence Biodiversity Bioelectric Energy Sources - microbiology Biological and medical sciences Brackish Cathodes Cloning, Molecular Desulfobulbaceae DNA Primers Electricity Electrodes Electrodes - microbiology Electrons energy estuarine sediments Fresh water Freshwater Fuel cells Fuel technology Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology Gammaproteobacteria - genetics genes Geobacteraceae Geologic Sediments - microbiology Geothrix fermentans harvesting Iron Marine Microbial activity microbial communities Microbiology Microorganisms Molecular Sequence Data nucleotide sequences Organic matter organic wastes Phylogeny Polymerase Chain Reaction - methods quantitative polymerase chain reaction Restriction Mapping ribosomal RNA RNA, Ribosomal, 16S - genetics rRNA genes Salt marshes Sediments Sequence Analysis, DNA Oregon New Jersey United States North America America Marine environment Polymerase chain reaction Aquatic environment Marine sediments Nucleotide sequence Ribosomal DNA 16S-RNA Microbial community Quantitative analysis
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Summary:	The microbial communities associated with electrodes from underwater fuel cells harvesting electricity from five different aquatic sediments were investigated. Three fuel cells were constructed with marine, salt-marsh, or freshwater sediments incubated in the laboratory. Fuel cells were also deployed in the field in salt marsh sediments in New Jersey and estuarine sediments in Oregon, USA. All of the sediments produced comparable amounts of power. Analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences after 3–7 months of incubation demonstrated that all of the energy-harvesting anodes were highly enriched in microorganisms in the δ-Proteobacteria when compared with control electrodes not connected to a cathode. Geobacteraceae accounted for the majority of δ-Proteobacterial sequences or all of the energy-harvesting anodes, except the one deployed at the Oregon estuarine site. Quantitative PCR analysis of 16S rRNA genes and culturing studies indicated that Geobacteraceae were 100-fold more abundant on the marine-deployed anodes versus controls. Sequences most similar to microorganisms in the family Desulfobulbaceae predominated on the anode deployed in the estuarine sediments, and a significant proportion of the sequences recovered from the freshwater anodes were closely related to the Fe(III)-reducing isolate, Geothrix fermentans. There was also a specific enrichment of microorganisms on energy harvesting cathodes, but the enriched populations varied with the sediment/water source. Thus, future studies designed to help optimize the harvesting of electricity from aquatic sediments or waste organic matter should focus on the electrode interactions of these microorganisms which are most competitive in colonizing anodes and cathodes.
Bibliography:	http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00248-003-0004-4 ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 ObjectType-Article-2 ObjectType-Feature-1
ISSN:	0095-3628 1432-184X
DOI:	10.1007/s00248-003-0004-4