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Genetic engineering for enhanced productivity in bioelectrochemical systems
Publikationstyp
Journal Article
Publikationsdatum
2020
Sprache
English
Author
Enthalten in
Volume
111
Start Page
1
End Page
31
Citation
Advances in Applied Microbiology 111: 1-31 (2020)
Publisher DOI
Scopus ID
PubMed ID
32446410
A shift from petrochemical processes toward a bio-based economy is one of the most advocated developments for a sustainable future. To achieve this will require the biotechnological production of platform chemicals that can be further processed by chemical engineering. Bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) are a novel tool within the biotechnology field. In BESs, microbes serve as biocatalysts for the production of biofuels and value-added compounds, as well as for the production of electricity. Although the general feasibility of bioelectrochemical processes has been demonstrated in recent years, much research has been conducted to develop biocatalysts better suited to meet industrial demands. Initially, mainly natural exoelectrogenic organisms were investigated for their performance in BESs. Driven by possibilities of recent developments in genetic engineering and synthetic biology, the spectrum of microbial catalysts and their versatility (substrate and product range) have expanded significantly. Despite these developments, there is still a tremendous gap between currently achievable space-time yields and current densities on the one hand and the theoretical limits of BESs on the other. It will be necessary to move the performance of the biocatalysts closer to the theoretical possibilities in order to establish viable production routines. This review summarizes the status quo of engineering microbial biocatalysts for anode-applications with high space-time yields. Furthermore, we will address some of the theoretical limitations of these processes exemplarily and discuss which of the present strategies might be combined to achieve highly synergistic effects and, thus, meet industrial demands.
Schlagworte
Anode interaction
Bioelectrochemical systems
c-type cytochromes
Exoelectrogens
Genetic engineering
Microbiology
Platform chemicals
Productive biofilm