Genetics and Molecular Biology of Hydrogen Metabolism in Sulfate-Reducing Bacteria

Wall, Judy D.¹ 

[1] Univ. of Missouri, Columbia, MO (United States)

关键词: Desulfovibrio;    hydrogen metabolism;    anaerobic microbial energy conversion;    genetics of environmental microbes;   

DOI  :  10.2172/1166017
RP-ID  :  DOE-MISSOURI--13713
PID  :  OSTI ID: 1166017

美国|英语

来源: SciTech Connect

【 摘 要 】

The degradation of our environment and the depletion of fossil fuels make the exploration of alternative fuels evermore imperative. Among the alternatives is biohydrogen which has high energy content by weight and produces only water when combusted. Considerable effort is being expended to develop photosynthetic systems -- algae, cyanobacteria, and anaerobic phototrophs -- for sustainable H₂ production. While promising, this approach also has hurdles such as the harvesting of light in densely pigmented cultures that requires costly constant mixing and large areas for exposure to sunlight. Little attention is given to fermentative H₂ generation. Thus understanding the microbial pathways to H₂ evolution and metabolic processes competing for electrons is an essential foundation that may expand the variety of fuels that can be generated or provide alternative substrates for fine chemical production. We studied a widely found soil anaerobe of the class Deltaproteobacteria, a sulfate-reducing bacterium to determine the electron pathways used during the oxidation of substrates and the potential for hydrogen production.