Can microorganisms be the solution to global energy problems?

Microorganisms used to have reigns on Earth, proliferate throughout every corner of the environment for billions of years before humans appeared.

According to Bruce Rittmann, Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown, and Rolf Halden of the Institute of Biological Design, currently the ability of microorganisms to reproduce from an almost infinite source of feed supply can play an important role in helping the prize. Save the society from the current energy crisis.

On the new issue of the sustainable and bio-microbial energy of Nature Reviews Microbiology, the Research Institute of Biological Design has outlined the pathway for bacteria and the greatest hope in generating energy. Can recover in large quantities without having to destroy the environment or compete with our food supply.

Photos depicting bacteria.Microorganisms once dominated the earth by proliferating in the corners of the environment billions of years before humans appeared.(Photo: iStockphoto / Henrik Jonsson)

There will need to be two different but complementary methods. The first method is to use bacteria to convert biomass into useful energy. Different types of microorganisms that can grow without oxygen will receive organic matter and convert it into useful forms of energy such as methane, hydrogen or even electricity. The second method is to use bacteria or algae that can capture light to create new biomass to convert into liquefied energy, such as biodiesel. New biomass can also be converted into useful energy by other microorganisms. Both methods are now in the major areas of biofuel research at the Institute of Biological Design. The institute has a project in coordination with BP in harvesting photosynthetic bacteria to produce renewable liquefied energy such as biodiesel.

What of bacteria makes them an attractive tool for bioenergy researchers? Think of a bacterium like E. coli intestinal bacteria. It has become the 'main character' of the global biotech industry worth billions of dollars. Can other microbial treasures have similar potential in bioenergy applications?

The Biological Design team, in the article Nature Review Microbiology, outlines the perspectives of those applications. They believe that the future of microbial bio-energy will be very bright thanks to recent advances in genetic technology as well as other molecular biology techniques. Unlike the case of E. colo, using only one type of bacteria may not have a great effect on the bioenergy industry because of the nature of the bacteria itself does not multiply alone. In other words, no bacteria lives separate from other species. Biodiversity has brought bacteria to fill the Earth while bringing great bioenergy potential to the challenge for engineers. Even if there is an ideal bacterial species, allowing them to multiply, maintain and optimize the environment to use them in bioenergy applications, there is still a huge challenge in terms of size. as reliability.

The study authors said: 'The microbial community used to generate energy is required to withstand changes in environmental conditions, changes in nutrition as well as input energy or penetration. of other invasive bacteria that consume the desired energy product '. The key to the large-scale success of the microbial bioenergy industry is to manage the microbial community so that it provides the desired bioenergy products with high reliability and proportions.

Without molecular techniques, our knowledge of the methanogenic microbial community has gone through decades of slow progress. Today, society cannot wait for decades to get new bioenergy sources. Fortunately, many pre-genetic, genetic, and post-genetic tools are available to provide knowledge about microorganisms involved in bioenergy production. Make the most of these tools that will accelerate technical and scientific progress, which is what our society needs most.

The genome provides the sequence of bases of the entire DNA in an organism, the complete genome reveals all the potential biological reactions that a microorganism can perform. In the past, complete genome could only be achieved for isolated organisms in homogeneous culture. But it is now possible to sequence the genome of microorganisms that are not cultured using the giant metagenomics genome.

To date, about 75 available genomes of microorganisms play a certain role in bioenergy production. These include 21 ancient bacterial genomes that produce methane, 24 genomes of hydrogen or electricity-producing bacteria and 30 cyanobacteria genomes that are potential biodiesel producers. At least half of the complete bacterial genome is related to bioenergy generated in the past two years, over 80 biologically related genomes are currently being sequenced.

A typical example and bio-energy bacteria Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 of the Institute of Biological Design - this is the first biofuel-producing bacterium to be sequenced, its genome was released in 1995. This photosynthetic bacterium is characterized with a membrane with high lipid ratio (oil) makes it a good candidate for biodiesel production.

The growing information genome fund will provide many molecular goals to support post-genetic and pre-genetic research that provide essential information about the types of microorganisms present in the community today as well as metabolic reactions that they perform. The genome, along with the science of sequencing DNA and studying proteins, is a growing understanding of the bioenergy microorganisms.

Due to the success in microbial bio-energy requires a deep knowledge of complex bacterial communities that require genetic, genetic and post-genetic tools. The Biological Design team has a unique expertise to use the above tools. It is the article about the industry's perspective that provides the necessary information about the tools, as well as how to use them to remove the structure and function of the microbial community involved in the production of bioenergy. learn. The authors conclude that: 'Information from these tools when properly combined with advanced technical tools as well as materials will promote the pace of microbial bioenergy processes transformed from field. the science area that inspires reality. '

Reference article:

Bruce E. Rittmann, Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown & Rolf U. Halden. Pre-genomic, genomic and post-genomic study of microbial communities involved in bioenergy. Nature Reviews Microbiology, July 7, 2008 DOI: 10.1038 / nrmicro1939