A biophotoelectrochemical approach to unravelling the role of cyanobacterial cell structures in exoelectrogenesis
A biophotoelectrochemical approach to unravelling the role of cyanobacterial cell structures in exoelectrogenesis
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DOI：
10.1101/2021.04.01.437897
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发表时间：
2021-04
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
L. Wey;J. Lawrence;Xiaolong Chen;R. Clark;D. Lea-Smith;Jenny Z. Zhang;C. Howe
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
L. Wey;J. Lawrence;Xiaolong Chen;R. Clark;D. Lea-Smith;Jenny Z. Zhang;C. Howe
光合作用微生物可以将电子输出到细胞外，这一现象被称为外生电作用，可以利用这种现象进行太阳能转换。然而，电子从类囊体膜到细胞外部的路径尚不清楚。电化学是研究电子转移途径的一种强有力的分析技术。在这里，我们展示了如何使用光电化学来比较不同生长阶段、物种和系统去除外层的蓝藻细胞的电子通量。我们发现，周质空间对整个细胞的光电流分布的复杂性有很大的贡献，这表明它在外生电过程中控制了电子传递。我们发现，尽管IV型菌毛机械的组件在外电发生中没有作用，但它们对细胞-电极黏附有显著贡献。这项研究表明，分析光电化学和分子微生物学为研究外生电提供了一个强有力的组合，使未来的研究能够回答生物学问题并促进太阳能转换应用。
Photosynthetic microorganisms can export electrons outside their cells, a phenomenon called exoelectrogenesis, which can be harnessed for solar energy conversion. However, the route electrons take from thylakoid membranes to the cell exterior is not understood. Electrochemistry is a powerful analytical technique for studying electron transfer pathways. Here, we show how photoelectrochemistry can be used to compare electron flux from cyanobacterial cells of different growth stages, species and with the outer layers systematically removed. We show that the periplasmic space contributes significantly to the photocurrent profile complexity of whole cells, indicating that it gates electron transfer in exoelectrogenesis. We found that although components of the type IV pili machinery do not have a role in exoelectrogenesis, they contribute significantly to cell-electrode adherence. This study establishes that analytical photoelectrochemistry and molecular microbiology provide a powerful combination to study exoelectrogenesis, enabling future studies to answer biological questions and advance solar energy conversion applications.