Hydrogen and carbon dioxide biochemistry in the bacterial energy-transducing membrane.

细菌能量转换膜中的氢气和二氧化碳生物化学。

• 批准号: BB/Y004302/1
• 负责人: Frank Sargent
• 金额: $ 55.23万
• 依托单位: Newcastle University
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2024 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=BB%2FY004302%2F1
• 关键词: Hydrogen; carbon; dioxide; biochemistry; bacterial

Developing renewable energy sources and reducing carbon dioxide emissions will require a basket of different solutions. Biology offers some good options. Microbiology offers some really exciting ones. Microscopic, single-celled bacteria are used to living in extreme environments and often perform (bio)chemical reactions that plants and animals cannot do. Many bacteria retain the ability to grow in the complete absence of oxygen. Under such conditions a special enzyme called formate hydrogenlyase is produced in the cell. This enzyme oxidises formate to carbon dioxide and two electrons, and those two electrons are channeled down a molecular wire in the protein and used directly to generate hydrogen gas (H2). Formate hydrogenlyase are attached to the cell surface when they do H2 production and, somehow, they use this activity to transport other hydrogen ions (protons) across the membrane, which can be used to make ATP for cellular energy. On the face of it, formate hydrogenlyases must use the same mechanism to do this that is also found in the human mitochondrion (making ATP for the human cell). It should be easier and quicker to study this mechanism in bacteria and therefore make new discoveries about the fundamental rules of life.What about societal impact and benefit? Most enzymes in the world are reversible. The reverse reaction of formate hydrogenase would be to take H2 and carbon dioxide and generate formic acid. Thus, running formate hydrogenlyase in reverse should allow a bacterium to use hydrogen as a substrate to capture carbon dioxide as soluble formic acid. Using renewable H2 would be even better, as this would make this form of biological carbon capture really sustainable and useful to society. Harnessing this enzyme activity - either within cells as a "whole cell biocatalyst" or outside cells as an isolated protein - has the potential to help reduce carbon dioxide emissions from a whole range of sources, and to convert that CO2 waste into more useful products.

发展可再生能源和减少二氧化碳排放将需要一篮子不同的解决方案。生物学提供了一些很好的选择。微生物学提供了一些非常令人兴奋的东西。微小的单细胞细菌习惯于生活在极端环境中，经常进行植物和动物无法进行的(生物)化学反应。许多细菌在完全没有氧气的情况下保持着生长的能力。在这种条件下，细胞中会产生一种特殊的酶，称为甲酸氢解酶。这种酶将甲酸盐氧化成二氧化碳和两个电子，这两个电子沿着蛋白质中的分子导线输送，直接用于产生氢气(H2)。甲酸氢解酶在产生氢气时附着在细胞表面，不知何故，它们利用这一活性跨膜运输其他氢离子(质子)，这可以用来制造细胞能量的ATP。从表面上看，甲酸氢解酶必须使用与人类线粒体相同的机制来完成这一任务(为人类细胞制造ATP)。研究细菌中的这种机制应该更容易和更快，从而对生命的基本规则有新的发现。那么社会影响和好处呢？世界上大多数酶都是可逆的。甲酸氢酶的逆反应是将氢气和二氧化碳反应生成甲酸。因此，反向运行甲酸氢解酶应该允许细菌利用氢作为底物来捕获二氧化碳为可溶性甲酸。使用可再生的氢气会更好，因为这将使这种形式的生物碳捕获真正可持续并对社会有用。利用这种酶的活性--无论是在细胞内作为“全细胞生物催化剂”，还是在细胞外作为一种孤立的蛋白质--有可能帮助减少各种来源的二氧化碳排放，并将二氧化碳废物转化为更有用的产品。