DOI: 10.1126/science.1066771. Electrode-Reducing Microorganisms That Harvest Energy from Marine Sediments

Electrode-Reducing Microorganisms That Harvest Energy from Marine Sediments

10.1126/science.1066771

Crossref journal-article

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Science (221)

Abstract

Energy in the form of electricity can be harvested from marine sediments by placing a graphite electrode (the anode) in the anoxic zone and connecting it to a graphite cathode in the overlying aerobic water. We report a specific enrichment of microorganisms of the family Geobacteraceae on energy-harvesting anodes, and we show that these microorganisms can conserve energy to support their growth by oxidizing organic compounds with an electrode serving as the sole electron acceptor. This finding not only provides a method for extracting energy from organic matter, but also suggests a strategy for promoting the bioremediation of organic contaminants in subsurface environments.

Bibliography

Bond, D. R., Holmes, D. E., Tender, L. M., & Lovley, D. R. (2002). Electrode-Reducing Microorganisms That Harvest Energy from Marine Sediments. Science, 295(5554), 483â485.

Authors 4

Daniel R. Bond (first)
Dawn E. Holmes (additional)
Leonard M. Tender (additional)
Derek R. Lovley (additional)

References 26 Referenced 1,164

10.1021/es001223s
Electrodes used in sediment incubations were solid unpolished graphite with a total surface area of 62.8 cm 2 . Connections were made with threaded marine-grade water-tight connectors filled with silver epoxy and sealed with marine epoxy. Sediments and seawater were from Boston Harbor MA.
10.1073/pnas.82.20.6955
10.1128/AEM.64.2.795-799.1998
Electrodes were rinsed under a stream of sterile marine buffer to remove all visible sediment and debris then scraped with sterile razor blades to remove adherent bacteria. DNA was extracted from this graphite slurry by a standard lysozyme-SDS–hexadecyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) phenol-chloroform method and further cleaned using a Wizard DNA purification kit (Promega). DNA was independently extracted from electrodes used in four different incubations.
To reduce PCR bias we amplified 16 S rDNA genes in two different reaction mixtures using the bacterial primers 27F and 519R or 63F and 519R. The products of these reactions were pooled before cloning with a TOPO TA cloning kit. The first 500 base pairs of cloned 16 S genes were sequenced to determine phylogenetic placement. Results shown in (7) are from a single set of electrodes; libraries from other incubations gave similar results.
See supplemental figures on Science Online at www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/295/5554/483/DC1.
10.1128/jb.178.8.2402-2408.1996
D. R. Lovley in The Prokaryotes M. Dworkin S. Falkow E. Rosenberg K.-H. Schleifer E. Stackebrandt Eds. (Springer-Verlag New York 2000) (see also www.prokaryotes.com).
10.1007/BF00416962
10.1128/aem.59.3.734-742.1993
For design of Desulfuromonas -specific PCR primers we used the bacterial primer set 27F and 1492R to obtain near full-length clones from the electrodes known to be highly enriched in these organisms; 16 S rDNA sequences were screened for Desulfuromonas -like sequences. Sequences were aligned with available close relatives for design of Desulfuromonas -specific primers [Desulfo494F (5′-AGGAAGCACCGGCTAACTCC-3′) and Desulfo1050R (5′-CGATCCAGCCGAACTGACC-3′)] optimum annealing temperature 51°C. Testing showed that only Desulfuromonas and closely related Geobacteraceae sequences were amplified from environmental samples. These primers were used for five-tube MPN-PCR enumerations using DNA extracted from three different electrodes.
A dual-chambered fuel cell was constructed using 54-mm OD (outside diameter) glass tubing and a 22-mm OD pinch clamp assembly. Electrodes used in dual-chamber fuel cells had a surface area of 25.4 cm 2 . The volume of each chamber was 225 ml. The chambers were separated by a cation-selective membrane (Nafion 117).
10.1029/95RG01305
The aerobic chamber of a two-chambered cell was filled with an aerobic marine buffer; the anaerobic chamber was filled with Desulfuromonas growth medium lacking electron donor or acceptor. Common electron shuttles were avoided by omitting resazurin and cysteine and by culturing cells using fumarate as the electron acceptor. The headspace of the anaerobic chamber was flushed with oxygen-free N 2 :CO 2 (80:20). All fuel cells were maintained at 30°C. Current and voltage measurements were collected with a multimeter.
10.1038/382445a0
For poised-potential growth both chambers were filled with anaerobic Desulfuromonas (marine) or Geobacter (freshwater) growth medium lacking electron donors or acceptors. Resazurin and cysteine were omitted from the medium. Both chambers were maintained under oxygen-free N 2 :CO 2 (80:20). The reference electrode was a standard 3M NaCl Ag/AgCl electrode. Potential at the working electrode was maintained at +200 mV versus the reference electrode by a potentiostat interfaced with a Macintosh computer which also recorded current flowing to the working electrode.
10.1007/BF00290916
10.1128/AEM.66.4.1292-1297.2000
10.1007/BF00165883
Roller S. D., et al., J. Chem. Tech. Biotechnol. 34B, 3 (1984). (10.1002/jctb.280340103) / J. Chem. Tech. Biotechnol. by Roller S. D. (1984)
D. R. Lovley in Environmental Microbe-Metal Interactions D. R. Lovley Ed. (ASM Press Washington DC 2000) pp. 3–30. (10.1128/9781555818098)
10.1128/AEM.65.7.3056-3063.1999
10.1007/s002480000018
10.1038/370128a0
Supported by Office of Naval Research grant N000140010776.

Dates

Type	When
Created	23 years ago (July 27, 2002, 5:47 a.m.)
Deposited	1 year, 7 months ago (Jan. 9, 2024, 4:10 p.m.)
Indexed	1 hour, 39 minutes ago (Aug. 26, 2025, 2:36 a.m.)
Issued	23 years, 7 months ago (Jan. 18, 2002)
Published	23 years, 7 months ago (Jan. 18, 2002)
Published Print	23 years, 7 months ago (Jan. 18, 2002)

Funders 0

None

BibTeX

@article{Bond_2002, title={Electrode-Reducing Microorganisms That Harvest Energy from Marine Sediments}, volume={295}, ISSN={1095-9203}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1066771}, DOI={10.1126/science.1066771}, number={5554}, journal={Science}, publisher={American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)}, author={Bond, Daniel R. and Holmes, Dawn E. and Tender, Leonard M. and Lovley, Derek R.}, year={2002}, month=jan, pages={483–485} }

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