[SEMINAR] Wiring methanotrophs: electricity generation by anaerobic methanotrophic archaea
Cornelia Welte, Radboud University
| When |
18 Dec, 2023
from
10:30 am to 11:30 am |
|---|---|
| Where | ITQB NOVA Auditorium |
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Title: Wiring methanotrophs: electricity generation by anaerobic methanotrophic archaea
Speaker: Cornelia Welte, Associate Professor
From: Department of Microbiology, Radboud University, The Netherlands
Abstract: Anaerobic methanotrophic (ANME) archaea are environmentally important uncultivated microorganisms mitigating the release of the potent greenhouse gas methane. During methane oxidation ANME archaea engage in extracellular electron transfer (EET) with other microorganisms, metal oxides, and electrodes, through a currently unknown mechanism. To shed light on this mechanism, we cultivated ANME-2d archaea ('Ca. Methanoperedens') in bioelectrochemical systems and observed strong methane-dependent current (91-93% of total current) associated with high enrichment of ‘Ca. Methanoperedens’ on the anode (up to 82% of the community) determined by metagenomics and transmission electron microscopy. Electrochemistry and metatranscriptomics suggested that the EET mechanism was similar at various electrode potentials with the possible involvement of a so far uncharacterized short-range electron transport protein complex and OmcZ nanowires, implying a unique EET pathway in all ANME-2 archaea.
