Metagenomic analysis of electron flow in microbial electricity generation from biomass

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K07820
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Environmental agriculture(including landscape science)
• Research Institution: National Agriculture and Food Research Organization
• Principal Investigator: Yokoyama Hiroshi 国立研究開発法人農業・食品産業技術総合研究機構, 畜産研究部門, 上級研究員 (40391370)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 発電細菌 / バイオマス / 水処理 / 遺伝子解析

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are bioreactors that directly generate electricity from various organic wastewaters. The mechanism of electricity generation remains unknown. The aim of this study is to reveal the electron flow in the microbial electricity generation.
Three MFCs equipped with different anodes were operated under closed-circuit conditions. A MFC was operated under an open-circuit condition. The DNA-sequence data of the anodic biofilms was obtained with a whole-genome shotgun method. Genes involved in signal transduction were detected more frequently in the MFCs with the closed-circuit operation, rather than in the MFC with the open-circuit operation, suggesting that the genes were involved in the microbial electricity generation.

Free Research Field

環境微生物工学