University of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
University of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Eindhoven University of Technology (Netherlands)
University of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Utah State University, Logan, UT (United States)
University of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
University of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Kavli Energy NanoScience Institute, Berkeley, CA (United States)
Solar-driven bioelectrosynthesis represents a promising approach for converting abundant resources into value-added chemicals with renewable energy. Microorganisms powered by electrochemical reducing equivalents assimilate CO2, H2O, and N2 building blocks. However, products from autotrophic whole-cell biocatalysts are limited. Furthermore, biocatalysts tasked with N2 reduction are constrained by simultaneous energy-intensive autotrophy. To overcome these challenges, we designed a biohybrid coculture for tandem and tunable CO2 and N2 fixation to value-added products, allowing the different species to distribute bioconversion steps and reduce the individual metabolic burden. This consortium involves acetogen Sporomusa ovata, which reduces CO2 to acetate, and diazotrophic Rhodopseudomonas palustris, which uses the acetate both to fuel N2 fixation and for the generation of a biopolyester. We demonstrate that the coculture platform provides a robust ecosystem for continuous CO2 and N2 fixation, and its outputs are directed by substrate gas composition. Moreover, we show the ability to support the coculture on a high–surface area silicon nanowire cathodic platform. The biohybrid coculture achieved peak faradaic efficiencies of 100, 19.1, and 6.3% for acetate, nitrogen in biomass, and ammonia, respectively, while maintaining product tunability. Finally, we established full solar to chemical conversion driven by a photovoltaic device, resulting in solar to chemical efficiencies of 1.78, 0.51, and 0.08% for acetate, nitrogenous biomass, and ammonia, correspondingly. Ultimately, our work demonstrates the ability to employ and electrochemically manipulate bacterial communities on demand to expand the suite of CO2 and N2 bioelectrosynthesis products.
Cestellos-Blanco, Stefano, et al. "Photosynthetic biohybrid coculture for tandem and tunable CO<sub>2</sub> and N<sub>2</sub> fixation." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 119, no. 26, Jun. 2022. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2122364119
Cestellos-Blanco, Stefano, Chan, Rachel R., Shen, Yue-xiao, Kim, Ji Min, Tacken, Tom A., Ledbetter, Rhesa, Yu, Sunmoon, Seefeldt, Lance C., & Yang, Peidong (2022). Photosynthetic biohybrid coculture for tandem and tunable CO<sub>2</sub> and N<sub>2</sub> fixation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 119(26). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2122364119
Cestellos-Blanco, Stefano, Chan, Rachel R., Shen, Yue-xiao, et al., "Photosynthetic biohybrid coculture for tandem and tunable CO<sub>2</sub> and N<sub>2</sub> fixation," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 119, no. 26 (2022), https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2122364119
@article{osti_2470841,
author = {Cestellos-Blanco, Stefano and Chan, Rachel R. and Shen, Yue-xiao and Kim, Ji Min and Tacken, Tom A. and Ledbetter, Rhesa and Yu, Sunmoon and Seefeldt, Lance C. and Yang, Peidong},
title = {Photosynthetic biohybrid coculture for tandem and tunable CO<sub>2</sub> and N<sub>2</sub> fixation},
annote = {Solar-driven bioelectrosynthesis represents a promising approach for converting abundant resources into value-added chemicals with renewable energy. Microorganisms powered by electrochemical reducing equivalents assimilate CO2, H2O, and N2 building blocks. However, products from autotrophic whole-cell biocatalysts are limited. Furthermore, biocatalysts tasked with N2 reduction are constrained by simultaneous energy-intensive autotrophy. To overcome these challenges, we designed a biohybrid coculture for tandem and tunable CO2 and N2 fixation to value-added products, allowing the different species to distribute bioconversion steps and reduce the individual metabolic burden. This consortium involves acetogen Sporomusa ovata, which reduces CO2 to acetate, and diazotrophic Rhodopseudomonas palustris, which uses the acetate both to fuel N2 fixation and for the generation of a biopolyester. We demonstrate that the coculture platform provides a robust ecosystem for continuous CO2 and N2 fixation, and its outputs are directed by substrate gas composition. Moreover, we show the ability to support the coculture on a high–surface area silicon nanowire cathodic platform. The biohybrid coculture achieved peak faradaic efficiencies of 100, 19.1, and 6.3% for acetate, nitrogen in biomass, and ammonia, respectively, while maintaining product tunability. Finally, we established full solar to chemical conversion driven by a photovoltaic device, resulting in solar to chemical efficiencies of 1.78, 0.51, and 0.08% for acetate, nitrogenous biomass, and ammonia, correspondingly. Ultimately, our work demonstrates the ability to employ and electrochemically manipulate bacterial communities on demand to expand the suite of CO2 and N2 bioelectrosynthesis products.},
doi = {10.1073/pnas.2122364119},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/2470841},
journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America},
issn = {ISSN 0027-8424},
number = {26},
volume = {119},
place = {United States},
publisher = {National Academy of Sciences},
year = {2022},
month = {06}}
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231
OSTI ID:
2470841
Journal Information:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Journal Name: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Journal Issue: 26 Vol. 119; ISSN 0027-8424