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Photosynthesis and Biological Hydrogen Production

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A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Green Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2015) | Viewed by 108227

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Professor Patrick Hallenbeck

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1. Département de Microbiologie, Infectiologie et immunologie, Université de Montréal, CP 6128 Succursale Centre-ville, Montréal, Québec, Canada H3C 3J7
2. Life Sciences Research Center, Department of Biology, United States Air Force Academy, 2355 Faculty Drive, USAF Academy, Colorado 80840, USA

Ms. Khorcheska Batyrova

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Département de Microbiologie, Infectiologie et immunologie, Université de Montréal, CP 6128 Succursale Centre-ville, Montréal, Québec, Canada H3C 3J7

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Dear Colleagues,

It is widely recognized that the world is overly dependent on fossil fuels for its critical energy needs, leading to the drastic consequences of climate change and the increasingly difficult exploitation of remaining fossil fuel reserves. Multiple responses will be needed to meet these challenges, including increased conservation and the development of a variety of renewable energy sources; wind, hydro and solar. Biological photosynthetic systems offer the capacity to capture a large portion of the enormous solar flux that reaches our planet and convert it to useful biofuels. Developing biological systems for the effective conversion of solar energy to fuels requires extensive R&D in a variety of areas, from increasing the fundamental knowledge about photosynthesis and cellular metabolism to bioreactor and bioprocess engineering. Among the different possible biofuels, hydrogen offers both a number of distinct advantages as well as a number of technical challenges. Over the past several decades, a significant number of researchers working in different disciplines; microbiology, biochemistry, chemical and materials sciences engineering, have helped bring this field to its current level of maturity. This special issue will bring together review articles by well-known scientists on the different aspects of photosynthesis and biological hydrogen production including current status and remaining challenges.

Prof. Patrick C. Hallenbeck
Ms. Batyrova Khorcheska
Guest Editors

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Keywords

renewable energy
biofuels
biological hydrogen production
biological solar energy conversion
dark fermentation
photofermentation
biophotolysis
metabolic engineering
green algae, cyanobacteria
lignocellulosic conversion

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Published Papers (11 papers)

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1087 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Transcriptional Profiling of Hydrogen Production Metabolism of Rhodobacter capsulatus under Temperature Stress by Microarray Analysis

by Muazzez Gürgan, Nilüfer Afşar Erkal, Ebru Özgür, Ufuk Gündüz, Inci Eroglu and Meral Yücel

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2015, 16(6), 13781-13797; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms160613781 - 16 Jun 2015

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 5669

Abstract

Biohydrogen is a clean and renewable form of hydrogen, which can be produced by photosynthetic bacteria in outdoor large-scale photobioreactors using sunlight. In this study, the transcriptional response of Rhodobacter capsulatus to cold (4 °C) and heat (42 °C) stress was studied using microarrays. Bacteria were grown in 30/2 acetate/glutamate medium at 30 °C for 48 h under continuous illumination. Then, cold and heat stresses were applied for two and six hours. Growth and hydrogen production were impaired under both stress conditions. Microarray chips for R. capsulatus were custom designed by Affymetrix (GeneChip^®. TR_RCH2a520699F). The numbers of significantly changed genes were 328 and 293 out of 3685 genes under cold and heat stress, respectively. Our results indicate that temperature stress greatly affects the hydrogen production metabolisms of R. capsulatus. Specifically, the expression of genes that participate in nitrogen metabolism, photosynthesis and the electron transport system were induced by cold stress, while decreased by heat stress. Heat stress also resulted in down regulation of genes related to cell envelope, transporter and binding proteins. Transcriptome analysis and physiological results were consistent with each other. The results presented here may aid clarification of the genetic mechanisms for hydrogen production in purple non-sulfur (PNS) bacteria under temperature stress. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Photosynthesis and Biological Hydrogen Production)

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709 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Biohydrogen and Bioethanol Production from Biodiesel-Based Glycerol by Enterobacter aerogenes in a Continuous Stir Tank Reactor

by Rujira Jitrwung and Viviane Yargeau

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2015, 16(5), 10650-10664; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms160510650 - 11 May 2015

Cited by 24 | Viewed by 7278

Abstract

Crude glycerol from the biodiesel manufacturing process is being produced in increasing quantities due to the expanding number of biodiesel plants. It has been previously shown that, in batch mode, semi-anaerobic fermentation of crude glycerol by Enterobacter aerogenes can produce biohydrogen and bioethanol simultaneously. The present study demonstrated the possible scaling-up of this process from small batches performed in small bottles to a 3.6-L continuous stir tank reactor (CSTR). Fresh feed rate, liquid recycling, pH, mixing speed, glycerol concentration, and waste recycling were optimized for biohydrogen and bioethanol production. Results confirmed that E. aerogenes uses small amounts of oxygen under semi-anaerobic conditions for growth before using oxygen from decomposable salts, mainly NH₄NO₃, under anaerobic condition to produce hydrogen and ethanol. The optimal conditions were determined to be 500 rpm, pH 6.4, 18.5 g/L crude glycerol (15 g/L glycerol) and 33% liquid recycling for a fresh feed rate of 0.44 mL/min. Using these optimized conditions, the process ran at a lower media cost than previous studies, was stable after 7 days without further inoculation and resulted in yields of 0.86 mol H₂/mol glycerol and 0.75 mol ethanol/mole glycerol. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Photosynthesis and Biological Hydrogen Production)

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968 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Single-Stage Operation of Hybrid Dark-Photo Fermentation to Enhance Biohydrogen Production through Regulation of System Redox Condition: Evaluation with Real-Field Wastewater

by Rashmi Chandra, G. N. Nikhil and S. Venkata Mohan

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2015, 16(5), 9540-9556; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms16059540 - 28 Apr 2015

Cited by 40 | Viewed by 7535

Abstract

Harnessing hydrogen competently through wastewater treatment using a particular class of biocatalyst is indeed a challenging issue. Therefore, biohydrogen potential of real-field wastewater was evaluated by hybrid fermentative process in a single-stage process. The cumulative hydrogen production (CHP) was observed to be higher with distillery wastewater (271 mL) than with dairy wastewater (248 mL). Besides H₂ production, the hybrid process was found to be effective in wastewater treatment. The chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency was found higher in distillery wastewater (56%) than in dairy wastewater (45%). Co-culturing photo-bacterial flora assisted in removal of volatile fatty acids (VFA) wherein 63% in distillery wastewater and 68% in case of dairy wastewater. Voltammograms illustrated dominant reduction current and low cathodic Tafel slopes supported H₂ production. Overall, the augmented dark-photo fermentation system (ADPFS) showed better performance than the control dark fermentation system (DFS). This kind of holistic approach is explicitly viable for practical scale-up operation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Photosynthesis and Biological Hydrogen Production)

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813 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Optimization of Influential Nutrients during Direct Cellulose Fermentation into Hydrogen by Clostridium thermocellum

by Rumana Islam, Richard Sparling, Nazim Cicek and David B. Levin

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2015, 16(2), 3116-3132; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms16023116 - 30 Jan 2015

Cited by 25 | Viewed by 6027

Abstract

Combinatorial effects of influential growth nutrients were investigated in order to enhance hydrogen (H₂) production during direct conversion of cellulose by Clostridium thermocellum DSM 1237. A central composite face-centered design and response surface methodology (RSM) were applied to optimize concentrations of cellulose, yeast extract (YE), and magnesium chloride (Mg) in culture. The overall optimum composition generated by the desirability function resulted in 57.28 mmol H₂/L-culture with 1.30 mol H₂/mol glucose and 7.48 mmol/(g·cell·h) when cultures contained 25 g/L cellulose, 2 g/L YE, and 1.75 g/L Mg. Compared with the unaltered medium, the optimized medium produced approximately 3.2-fold more H₂ within the same time-frame with 50% higher specific productivity, which are also better than previously reported values from similar studies. Nutrient composition that diverted carbon and electron flux away from H₂ promoting ethanol production was also determined. This study represents the first investigation dealing with multifactor optimization with RSM for H₂ production during direct cellulose fermentation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Photosynthesis and Biological Hydrogen Production)

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969 KiB

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Sustainable Hydrogen Photoproduction by Phosphorus-Deprived Marine Green Microalgae Chlorella sp.

by Khorcheska Batyrova, Anastasia Gavrisheva, Elena Ivanova, Jianguo Liu and Anatoly Tsygankov

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2015, 16(2), 2705-2716; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms16022705 - 26 Jan 2015

Cited by 64 | Viewed by 7354

Abstract

Previously it has been shown that green microalga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is capable of prolonged H₂ photoproduction when deprived of sulfur. In addition to sulfur deprivation (-S), sustained H₂ photoproduction in C. reinhardtii cultures can be achieved under phosphorus-deprived (-P) conditions. Similar to sulfur deprivation, phosphorus deprivation limits O₂ evolving activity in algal cells and causes other metabolic changes that are favorable for H₂ photoproduction. Although significant advances in H₂ photoproduction have recently been realized in fresh water microalgae, relatively few studies have focused on H₂ production in marine green microalgae. In the present study phosphorus deprivation was applied for hydrogen production in marine green microalgae Chlorella sp., where sulfur deprivation is impossible due to a high concentration of sulfates in the sea water. Since resources of fresh water on earth are limited, the possibility of hydrogen production in seawater is more attractive. In order to achieve H₂ photoproduction in P-deprived marine green microalgae Chlorella sp., the dilution approach was applied. Cultures diluted to about 0.5–1.8 mg Chl·L⁻¹ in the beginning of P-deprivation were able to establish anaerobiosis, after the initial growth period, where cells utilize intracellular phosphorus, with subsequent transition to H₂ photoproduction stage. It appears that marine microalgae during P-deprivation passed the same stages of adaptation as fresh water microalgae. The presence of inorganic carbon was essential for starch accumulation and subsequent hydrogen production by microalgae. The H₂ accumulation was up to 40 mL H₂ gas per 1iter of the culture, which is comparable to that obtained in P-deprived C. reinhardtii culture. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Photosynthesis and Biological Hydrogen Production)

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1578 KiB

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Designed Surface Residue Substitutions in [NiFe] Hydrogenase that Improve Electron Transfer Characteristics

by Isaac T. Yonemoto, Hamilton O. Smith and Philip D. Weyman

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2015, 16(1), 2020-2033; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms16012020 - 16 Jan 2015

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 6974

Abstract

Photobiological hydrogen production is an attractive, carbon-neutral means to convert solar energy to hydrogen. We build on previous research improving the Alteromonas macleodii “Deep Ecotype” [NiFe] hydrogenase, and report progress towards creating an artificial electron transfer pathway to supply the hydrogenase with electrons necessary for hydrogen production. Ferredoxin is the first soluble electron transfer mediator to receive high-energy electrons from photosystem I, and bears an electron with sufficient potential to efficiently reduce protons. Thus, we engineered a hydrogenase-ferredoxin fusion that also contained several other modifications. In addition to the C-terminal ferredoxin fusion, we truncated the C-terminus of the hydrogenase small subunit, identified as the available terminus closer to the electron transfer region. We also neutralized an anionic patch surrounding the interface Fe-S cluster to improve transfer kinetics with the negatively charged ferredoxin. Initial screening showed the enzyme tolerated both truncation and charge neutralization on the small subunit ferredoxin-binding face. While the enzyme activity was relatively unchanged using the substrate methyl viologen, we observed a marked improvement from both the ferredoxin fusion and surface modification using only dithionite as an electron donor. Combining ferredoxin fusion and surface charge modification showed progressively improved activity in an in vitro assay with purified enzyme. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Photosynthesis and Biological Hydrogen Production)

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2721 KiB

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[FeFe]-Hydrogenase Abundance and Diversity along a Vertical Redox Gradient in Great Salt Lake, USA

by Eric S. Boyd, Trinity L. Hamilton, Kevin D. Swanson, Alta E. Howells, Bonnie K. Baxter, Jonathan E. Meuser, Matthew C. Posewitz and John W. Peters

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2014, 15(12), 21947-21966; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms151221947 - 28 Nov 2014

Cited by 17 | Viewed by 7694

Abstract

The use of [FeFe]-hydrogenase enzymes for the biotechnological production of H₂ or other reduced products has been limited by their sensitivity to oxygen (O₂). Here, we apply a PCR-directed approach to determine the distribution, abundance, and diversity of hydA gene fragments along co-varying salinity and O₂ gradients in a vertical water column of Great Salt Lake (GSL), UT. The distribution of hydA was constrained to water column transects that had high salt and relatively low O₂ concentrations. Recovered HydA deduced amino acid sequences were enriched in hydrophilic amino acids relative to HydA from less saline environments. In addition, they harbored interesting variations in the amino acid environment of the complex H-cluster metalloenzyme active site and putative gas transfer channels that may be important for both H₂ transfer and O₂ susceptibility. A phylogenetic framework was created to infer the accessory cluster composition and quaternary structure of recovered HydA protein sequences based on phylogenetic relationships and the gene contexts of known complete HydA sequences. Numerous recovered HydA are predicted to harbor multiple N- and C-terminal accessory iron-sulfur cluster binding domains and are likely to exist as multisubunit complexes. This study indicates an important role for [FeFe]-hydrogenases in the functioning of the GSL ecosystem and provides new target genes and variants for use in identifying O₂ tolerant enzymes for biotechnological applications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Photosynthesis and Biological Hydrogen Production)

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Review

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748 KiB

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Hydrogen Production by the Thermophilic Bacterium Thermotoga neapolitana

by Nirakar Pradhan, Laura Dipasquale, Giuliana D'Ippolito, Antonio Panico, Piet N. L. Lens, Giovanni Esposito and Angelo Fontana

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2015, 16(6), 12578-12600; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms160612578 - 4 Jun 2015

Cited by 61 | Viewed by 9248

Abstract

As the only fuel that is not chemically bound to carbon, hydrogen has gained interest as an energy carrier to face the current environmental issues of greenhouse gas emissions and to substitute the depleting non-renewable reserves. In the last years, there has been a significant increase in the number of publications about the bacterium Thermotoga neapolitana that is responsible for production yields of H₂ that are among the highest achievements reported in the literature. Here we present an extensive overview of the most recent studies on this hyperthermophilic bacterium together with a critical discussion of the potential of fermentative production by this bacterium. The review article is organized into sections focused on biochemical, microbiological and technical issues, including the effect of substrate, reactor type, gas sparging, temperature, pH, hydraulic retention time and organic loading parameters on rate and yield of gas production. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Photosynthesis and Biological Hydrogen Production)

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1202 KiB

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Cyanobacterial Hydrogenases and Hydrogen Metabolism Revisited: Recent Progress and Future Prospects

by Namita Khanna and Peter Lindblad

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2015, 16(5), 10537-10561; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms160510537 - 8 May 2015

Cited by 64 | Viewed by 12767

Abstract

Cyanobacteria have garnered interest as potential cell factories for hydrogen production. In conjunction with photosynthesis, these organisms can utilize inexpensive inorganic substrates and solar energy for simultaneous biosynthesis and hydrogen evolution. However, the hydrogen yield associated with these organisms remains far too low to compete with the existing chemical processes. Our limited understanding of the cellular hydrogen production pathway is a primary setback in the potential scale-up of this process. In this regard, the present review discusses the recent insight around ferredoxin/flavodoxin as the likely electron donor to the bidirectional Hox hydrogenase instead of the generally accepted NAD(P)H. This may have far reaching implications in powering solar driven hydrogen production. However, it is evident that a successful hydrogen-producing candidate would likely integrate enzymatic traits from different species. Engineering the [NiFe] hydrogenases for optimal catalytic efficiency or expression of a high turnover [FeFe] hydrogenase in these photo-autotrophs may facilitate the development of strains to reach target levels of biohydrogen production in cyanobacteria. The fundamental advancements achieved in these fields are also summarized in this review. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Photosynthesis and Biological Hydrogen Production)

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3012 KiB

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Biohydrogen Production: Strategies to Improve Process Efficiency through Microbial Routes

by Kuppam Chandrasekhar, Yong-Jik Lee and Dong-Woo Lee

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2015, 16(4), 8266-8293; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms16048266 - 14 Apr 2015

Cited by 310 | Viewed by 28523

Abstract

The current fossil fuel-based generation of energy has led to large-scale industrial development. However, the reliance on fossil fuels leads to the significant depletion of natural resources of buried combustible geologic deposits and to negative effects on the global climate with emissions of greenhouse gases. Accordingly, enormous efforts are directed to transition from fossil fuels to nonpolluting and renewable energy sources. One potential alternative is biohydrogen (H₂), a clean energy carrier with high-energy yields; upon the combustion of H₂, H₂O is the only major by-product. In recent decades, the attractive and renewable characteristics of H₂ led us to develop a variety of biological routes for the production of H₂. Based on the mode of H₂ generation, the biological routes for H₂ production are categorized into four groups: photobiological fermentation, anaerobic fermentation, enzymatic and microbial electrolysis, and a combination of these processes. Thus, this review primarily focuses on the evaluation of the biological routes for the production of H₂. In particular, we assess the efficiency and feasibility of these bioprocesses with respect to the factors that affect operations, and we delineate the limitations. Additionally, alternative options such as bioaugmentation, multiple process integration, and microbial electrolysis to improve process efficiency are discussed to address industrial-level applications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Photosynthesis and Biological Hydrogen Production)

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1552 KiB

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Advances in the Function and Regulation of Hydrogenase in the Cyanobacterium Synechocystis PCC6803

by Corinne Cassier-Chauvat, Théo Veaudor and Franck Chauvat

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2014, 15(11), 19938-19951; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms151119938 - 31 Oct 2014

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 7929

Abstract

In order to use cyanobacteria for the biological production of hydrogen, it is important to thoroughly study the function and the regulation of the hydrogen-production machine in order to better understand its role in the global cell metabolism and identify bottlenecks limiting H₂ production. Most of the recent advances in our understanding of the bidirectional [Ni-Fe] hydrogenase (Hox) came from investigations performed in the widely-used model cyanobacterium Synechocystis PCC6803 where Hox is the sole enzyme capable of combining electrons with protons to produce H₂ under specific conditions. Recent findings suggested that the Hox enzyme can receive electrons from not only NAD(P)H as usually shown, but also, or even preferentially, from ferredoxin. Furthermore, plasmid-encoded functions and glutathionylation (the formation of a mixed-disulfide between the cysteines residues of a protein and the cysteine residue of glutathione) are proposed as possible new players in the function and regulation of hydrogen production. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Photosynthesis and Biological Hydrogen Production)

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