Table Of ContentSPRINGER BRIEFS IN MICROBIOLOGY
EXTREMOPHILIC BACTERIA
Sonia M. Tiquia-Arashiro
Thermophilic
Carboxydotrophs
and their
Applications in
Biotechnology
SpringerBriefs in Microbiology
Extremophilic Bacteria
Series editors
Sonia M. Tiquia-Arashiro, Dearborn, MI, USA
Melanie Mormile, Rolla, MO, USA
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/11917
Sonia M. Tiquia-Arashiro
Thermophilic
Carboxydotrophs and
their Applications in
Biotechnology
123
SoniaM. Tiquia-Arashiro
Department of NaturalSciences
Universityof Michigan
Dearborn, MI
USA
ISSN 2191-5385 ISSN 2191-5393 (electronic)
ISBN 978-3-319-11872-7 ISBN 978-3-319-11873-4 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-11873-4
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2014951696
SpringerChamHeidelbergNewYorkDordrechtLondon
©TheAuthor(s)2014
Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsarereservedbythePublisher,whetherthewholeorpartof
the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations,
recitation,broadcasting,reproductiononmicrofilmsorinanyotherphysicalway,andtransmissionor
informationstorageandretrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilarordissimilar
methodology now known or hereafter developed. Exempted from this legal reservation are brief
excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis or material supplied specifically for the
purposeofbeingenteredandexecutedonacomputersystem,forexclusiveusebythepurchaserofthe
work. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of
theCopyrightLawofthePublisher’slocation,initscurrentversion,andpermissionforusemustalways
beobtainedfromSpringer.PermissionsforusemaybeobtainedthroughRightsLinkattheCopyright
ClearanceCenter.ViolationsareliabletoprosecutionundertherespectiveCopyrightLaw.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publicationdoesnotimply,evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesareexempt
fromtherelevantprotectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreeforgeneraluse.
While the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of
publication,neithertheauthorsnortheeditorsnorthepublishercanacceptanylegalresponsibilityfor
anyerrorsoromissionsthatmaybemade.Thepublishermakesnowarranty,expressorimplied,with
respecttothematerialcontainedherein.
Printedonacid-freepaper
SpringerispartofSpringerScience+BusinessMedia(www.springer.com)
This book is dedicated to my husband,
Peter whose unlimited devotion
and support made this book project possible
To the reader…
I hope that you have at least half
as much fun in reading this book as
I’ve had in writing it.
Contents
1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2 Microbial CO Metabolism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3 CO-oxidizing Microorganisms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.1 CO-utilizing Hydrogenogenic Bacteria and Archaea. . . . . . . . . . 12
3.1.1 CO-utilizing Facultatively Anaerobic Bacteria. . . . . . . . . 15
3.1.2 CO-utilizing Obligately Anaerobic Bacteria
and Archaea. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.2 CO-utilizing Sulfate-Reducing Bacteria and Archaea . . . . . . . . . 19
3.3 CO-utilizing Sulfur-Reducing Archaea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
3.4 CO-utilizing Acetogenic Bacteria. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
3.5 CO-utilizing Methanogenic Archaea. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3.6 CO-utilizing Iron-Reducing Bacteria and Archaea . . . . . . . . . . . 26
4 Biotechnological Applications of Thermophilic
Carboxydotrophs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
4.1 Electricity Production from CO/Syngas-fed Microbial
Fuel Cell. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
4.1.1 Overview of Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) . . . . . . . . . . . 31
4.1.2 CO/Syngas as Substrates for Microbial Fuel
Cells (MFCs) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
4.1.3 Thermophilic Carboxydotrophs in CO/Syngas-fed
Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
4.1.4 Design Considerations of MFCs Operating
at Thermophilic Temperatures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
4.2 Biofuel and Organic Acid Production by Thermophilic
Carboxydotrophs from Synthesis Gas (Syngas) Fermentation. . . . 50
4.2.1 Microbiology of Carboxydotrophic Microorganisms
Capable of Converting Syngas to Biofuels and Organic
Acids. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
vii
viii Contents
4.2.2 Biochemistry of Syngas Fermentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
4.2.3 Products of Syngas Fermentation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
4.2.4 Potential Improvements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
4.3 Bioremediation of Toxic Compounds with Thermophilic
Carboxydotrophs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
4.3.1 Reductive Dehalogenation of Trichloroethylene
by Methanosarcina Thermophila. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
4.3.2 Reductive/Substitutive Dechlorination of
Tetrachloromethane (CCl ) by Clostridium
4
Thermoaceticum and Methanobacterium
Thermoautotrophicum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
4.3.3 Transformation of 2,4,6,-trinitrotoluene (TNT)
by a Carboxydotrophic Sulfate-reducing Anaerobe. . . . . . 87
4.4 Thermophilic Carboxydotrophs as Biosensors for CO
Detection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
4.4.1 Mediators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
4.4.2 Enzyme Electrodes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
4.4.3 Gas Biosensors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
4.4.4 Detection of CO from the Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
5 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Abstract
Carbon monoxide (CO) is a color- and odorless gas toxic to many organisms due
toitshighaffinitytometal-containingenzymes.Despiteitstoxicityonthemajority
of living organisms on our planet, numerous microorganisms both aerobic and
anaerobic can use CO as source of carbon and energy for growth. CO-oxidizing
microorganisms or simply carboxydotrophs are group of microorganisms capable
of using CO as their energy source. The oxidation of CO is coupled to
acetogenesis, methanogenesis, hydrogenogenesis, sulfate/sulfur reduction, or iron
reduction. Although as diverse as the organisms capable of it, any CO-dependent
energy metabolism known depends on the presence of carbon monoxide
dehydrogenase. CO metabolism is an important part of the global carbon cycle
and understanding the processes involved will be helpful in developing or
improvingproceduresemployingCOforremediationorasasourceofbiomassor
fuel. This review summarizes recent insights into the ecology, biochemistry, and
applications of thermophilic carboxydotrophs in industrial processes and environ-
mental biotechnology including the production of biofuels, the production of
electricity through microbial fuel cell technology, bioremediation and biodegra-
dationoftoxicchemicals,andthedetectionofCOusingthebiosensortechnology.
(cid:1) (cid:1)
Keywords CO-oxidizing bacteria Carbon monoxide dehydrogenase Synthesis
(cid:1) (cid:1) (cid:1) (cid:1) (cid:1) (cid:1)
gas Biofuel Microbialfuelcell Bioremediation Biosensor Hydrogenogens
(cid:1) (cid:1) (cid:1)
Acetogens Methanogens Thermophiles Carboxydotrophs
ix
Chapter 1
Introduction
Carbonmonoxide(CO)isanatmospherictracegas.ItsconcentrationintheEarth’s
atmosphererangedbetween0.06and0.15ppm(IPPC2001).COisapotentelectron
donor(Eo′−524to558mVfortheCO/CO couple)(GrahameandDeMoll1995),and
2
althoughitmaybeinhibitorytoironproteinsofbothaerobesandanaerobes(Adam
1990), CO is utilized by many microorganisms. CO-oxidizing microorganisms or
simply carboxydotrophs are taxonomically diverse group of microorganisms and
represent a type of chemolithoautotrophic metabolism capable of catalyzing the
oxidation of CO to CO . The term carboxydotrophs was originally coined for
2
microbeswithaerobic,respiratory,chemolithoautotrophicutilizationofCOasasole
sourceofcarbonandenergy(MeyerandSchlegel1983).However,thetermwillbe
usedhereforallmicrobescapableofusingCOastheirenergysource,becausemost
CO-utilizing microorganisms studied to date are either facultative anaerobes or
obligateanaerobes. These microorganisms are able (1) to catalyze the oxidation of
CO to CO ; (2) to use the electrons derived from this reaction for growth; (3) to
2
assimilatepartsoftheCO ribulosebiphosphatepathway;and(4)towithstandCO
2
inhibition.Certain fungi (Inman and Ingersoll 1971); algae (Chappelle1962); acti-
nomycetes and streptomycetes (Bartholomew and Alexander 1982; Gadkari et al.
1990); mycobacteria (Kim and Park 2014); ammonium oxidizers (Bedard and
Knowles1989;JonesandMorita1983);methanotrophs(BedardandKnowles1989;
Ferencietal.1975;Hubleyetal.1974);nitrogen-fixingbacteria(Chappelle1962);
photosynthetic bacteria (Pakpour et al. 2014); acetogens (Henstra et al. 2007a),
sulfate-reducingbacteria(Henstraetal.2007b);iron-reducingbacteria(Slepovaetal.
2009);andhydrogenogenicbacteriaandarchaea(Sokolovaetal.2004a)areableto
oxidizeCOtoCO .BesidesCO,manycarboxydotrophicmicroorganismscangrow
2
with hydrogen plus carbon dioxide (Henstra et al. 2007b), indicating that their
autotrophiccapabilitiesarenotrestrictedasthoseofnon-carboxydotrophic,classical
hydrogen-oxidizingbacteria.Mostcarboxydotrophsarefacultativelithotrophsinthat
they are able to use a wide variety of organic substrates for heterotrophic growth
(Drakeetal.2002;Sokolovaetal.2002,2007;HenstraandStams2004;Bertoldoand
©TheAuthor(s)2014 1
S.M.Tiquia-Arashiro,ThermophilicCarboxydotrophsandtheirApplications
inBiotechnology,ExtremophilicBacteria,DOI10.1007/978-3-319-11873-4_1
