Strain improvement and mediator selection formicrobial fuel cell by genome scale in silico model

摘要

Special attention is recently being paid to microbial fuel cells (MFCs) aspromising research and practical application in the biological production ofelectricity from wastewater at low cost. In this work, the genome scale in silicomodel of E. Coli has been employed for establishing the strain improvementstrategy for MFC under the integrated framework. Initially, the possiblecandidate genes for the knockout analysis within the whole network can beidentified by comparing the central metabolism of E. Coli with four organismswhich are known to be the efficient producers of electrons. It is followed by insilico analysis for strain improvement, thus rendering it possible to identifygene targets for achieving the enhanced production of electron. Finally, ofvarious mediators available, including Neutral Red, Methylene Blue, Meldola'sBlue, Safranine-T, 2-Hydroxy-1,4-nepthoquinone and Thionine, the bestmediator was evaluated on the basis of their performance to transfer electroninto the anode of MFC efficiently. Thus, the present framework supporting bothbiochemical and electrochemical systems predicts the optimal environmentaland/or genetic condition for developing high performance MFC throughoutstrain improvement and mediator selection.