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Title: Expression of a clostridial [FeFe]-hydrogenase in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii prolongs photo-production of hydrogen from water splitting

Journal Article · · Algal Research
 [1];  [2];  [1];  [1];  [3];  [4];  [1];  [1]
  1. National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
  2. National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); U. S. Dept. of Energy, Washington, D.C. (United States)
  3. Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States); Algenol, Fort Myers, FL (United States)
  4. Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations

The high oxygen (O2) sensitivity of green algal [FeFe]-hydrogenases is a significant limitation for the sustained production of hydrogen gas (H2) from photosynthetic water splitting. To address this limitation we replaced the native [FeFe]-hydrogenases with a more O2-tolerant clostridial [FeFe]-hydrogenase CaI in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii strain D66ΔHYD (hydA1–hydA2–) that contains insertionally inactivated [FeFe]-hydrogenases genes. Expression and translocation of CaI in D66ΔHYD led to the recovery of H2 photoproduction at ~ 20% of the rates of the wild-type parent strain D66. We show for the first time that a bacterial [FeFe]-hydrogenase can be expressed, localized and matured to a catalytically active form that couples to photosynthetic electron transport in the green alga C. reinhardtii. The lower rates of O2 inactivation of CaI led to more sustained H2 photoproduction when cultures were challenged with O2 or kept under prolonged illumination at solar intensities. Lastly, these results provide new insights into the requisites for attaining photobiological H2 production from water splitting using a more O2-tolerant hydrogenase.

Research Organization:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Sustainable Transportation Office. Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technologies Office; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC36-08GO28308
OSTI ID:
1339351
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1396621
Report Number(s):
NREL/JA-2700-67527
Journal Information:
Algal Research, Vol. 22; ISSN 2211-9264
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 21 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (3)

Image-Processing Software for High-Throughput Quantification of Colony Luminescence journal January 2019
Simultaneous quantum yield measurements of carbon uptake and oxygen evolution in microalgal cultures journal June 2018
O 2 sensitivity and H 2 production activity of hydrogenases—A review journal August 2019

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Related Subjects

08 HYDROGEN
hydrogen photoproduction
hydrogenase
heterologous expression
O2 tolerance