A new model for electron flow during anaerobic digestion: direct interspecies electron transfer to Methanosaeta for the reduction of carbon dioxide to methane

作者：Amelia‐Elena Rotaru, Pravin Malla Shrestha, Fanghua Liu, Minita Shrestha, Devesh Shrestha, Mallory Embree, Karsten Zengler, Colin Wardman, Kelly P. Nevin, Derek R. Lovley · 发表于：Energy & Environmental Science · 年份：2013 · DOI：10.1039/c3ee42189a · 被引用次数：1406 · 研究领域：Microbial Fuel Cells and Bioremediation、Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Production、Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena

Anaerobic conversion of organic wastes and biomass to methane is an important bioenergy strategy, which depends on poorly understood mechanisms of interspecies electron transfer to methanogenic microorganisms. Metatranscriptomic analysis of methanogenic aggregates from a brewery wastewater digester, coupled with fluorescence in situ hybridization with specific 16S rRNA probes, revealed that Methanosaeta species were the most abundant and metabolically active methanogens. Methanogens known to reduce carbon dioxide with H2 or formate as the electron donor were rare. Although Methanosaeta have previously been thought to be restricted to acetate as a substrate for methane production, Methanosaeta in the aggregates had a complete complement of genes for the enzymes necessary for the reduction of carbon to methane, and transcript abundance for these genes was high. Furthermore, Geobacter species, the most abundant bacteria in the aggregates, highly expressed genes for ethanol metabolism and for extracellular electron transfer via electrically conductive pili, suggesting that Geobacter and Methanosaeta species were exchanging electrons via direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET). This possibility was further investigated in defined co-cultures of Geobacter metallireducens and Methanosaeta harundinacea which stoichiometrically converted ethanol to methane. Transcriptomic, radiotracer, and genetic analysis demonstrated that M. harundinacea accepted electrons via DIET for the redu...