Comment on Microbial Community Composition Is Unaffected by Anode Potential

摘要

While bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) such as microbial fuel cells (MFCs) or microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) remain promising technologies, their widespread use for the sustainable production of energy from wastewaters is yet to be realized. Establishment of anode-respiring bacteria (ARB) at the anode surface is considered an important determinant of BES performance. Because ARB use the anode for respiration, it should be possible to use anode potential as a mechanism to select various ARB communities with different electron transfer properties. ARB communities appear to adjust to anode potential to some extent, but it is still unknown whether this adjustment is primarily due to selection of particular strains and species within the communities that have different optimal electron transfer potentials; or whether it is through physiological adaptation of species that have the capacity to adapt to different potentials. For this reason, we welcome the attempt of Zhu et al. to address the controversy regarding the impact of anode potential on microbial community composition and performance.