CAREER: A novel microbial electrosynthesis platform built on a model electron transfer pathway

Michigan State University, East Lansing MI

Investigators

Abstract

Two major challenges facing society today are generating fuels and chemicals from sustainable materials, and storing energy produced by solar and wind technologies. Both feats are achieved by bacteria in a process called microbial electrosynthesis, in which bacteria convert carbon dioxide into fuels and chemicals using electricity as a power source. This project will develop bacteria with improved electrosynthesis capability. This project will also train graduate and undergraduate students in synthetic biology to be the next generation of scientists in this emerging field. The educational efforts extend to adult and primary school audiences, to broaden understanding of synthetic biology. The proposed work takes a novel approach to enable microbial electrosynthesis by developing a platform for electricity uptake in well-characterized organisms that are amenable to genetic engineering. Preliminary results demonstrate electricity-driven reduction of acetoin to 2,3-butanediol in the electrochemically-active bacterium Shewanella oneidensis MR-1. This is the first-ever demonstration that electricity can be used to generate intracellular reducing power through a defined biochemical pathway. Building on these exciting results, work is proposed to enhance electron transfer rates in this system, connect the system to production of fuels and chemicals in Escherichia coli, and identify the native pathways necessary for electron uptake. This will result in a generalizable platform that can be used to drive a wide range of reduction reactions, including carbon dioxide fixation, and provide a strong foundation for further research. This CAREER award is supported by the Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental and Transport Systems and the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.