{"id":132892,"date":"2023-10-06T07:12:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-06T05:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/?p=132892"},"modified":"2023-10-05T12:24:46","modified_gmt":"2023-10-05T10:24:46","slug":"capturing-co2-with-electricity-a-microbial-enzyme-inspires-electrochemistry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/capturing-co2-with-electricity-a-microbial-enzyme-inspires-electrochemistry\/","title":{"rendered":"Cap\u00adtur\u00ading CO2 with elec\u00adtri\u00adcity: A mi\u00adcro\u00adbial en\u00adzyme in\u00adspires elec\u00adtro\u00adchem\u00adistry"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

Humanity continuously emits greenhouse gases and thereby worsens global warming. Increasing research efforts go into developing strategies to convert these gases, such as carbon dioxide (CO2<\/sub>), into valuable products. CO2<\/sub>\u00a0accumulates dramatically over the years and is chemically very stable, thus challenging to transform. Yet, for billions of years, some microbes have actively captured CO2<\/sub>\u00a0using highly efficient enzymes. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen together with the Universities of Geneva and Radboud isolated one of these enzymes. When the enzyme was electronically branched on an electrode, they observed the conversion of CO2<\/sub>\u00a0to formate with perfect efficiency. This phenomenon will inspire new CO2<\/sub>-fixation systems because of its remarkable directionality and rates. The results have now been published in the journal \u201cAngewandte Chemie\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seek\u00ading mi\u00adcroor\u00adgan\u00adisms that ef\u00adfi\u00adciently cap\u00adture the green\u00adhouse gas CO2<\/sub><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n

\u201cThe en\u00adzymes em\u00adployed by the mi\u00adcroor\u00adgan\u00adisms rep\u00adres\u00adent a fant\u00adastic play\u00adground for sci\u00adent\u00adists as they al\u00adlow highly spe\u00adcific re\u00adac\u00adtions at fast rates\u201d, says Tristan Wag\u00adner, head of the\u00a0Max Planck Re\u00adsearch Group Mi\u00adcro\u00adbial Meta\u00adbol\u00adism<\/a>\u00a0at the Max Planck In\u00adsti\u00adtute for Mar\u00adine Mi\u00adcro\u00adbi\u00ado\u00adlogy (MPIMM). <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Some of these en\u00adzymes have an in\u00adter\u00adest\u00ading way of cap\u00adtur\u00ading CO2<\/sub>: They trans\u00adform it into form\u00adate, a stable and safe com\u00adpound that can be used to store en\u00adergy or to syn\u00adthes\u00adize vari\u00adous mo\u00adlecules for in\u00addus\u00adtrial or phar\u00adma\u00adceut\u00adical pur\u00adposes. One ex\u00adample is\u00a0Methermicoccus shengliensis,\u00a0<\/em>a meth\u00adano\u00adgen (a mi\u00adcrobe pro\u00addu\u00adcing meth\u00adane) isol\u00adated from an oil\u00adfield and grow\u00ading at 50 \u00b0C. It has been cul\u00adtiv\u00adated and stud\u00adied over the past years by Ju\u00adlia Kurth and Cor\u00adne\u00adlia Welte at Rad\u00adboud Uni\u00adversity in the Neth\u00ader\u00adlands. At the Max Planck In\u00adsti\u00adtute for Mar\u00adine Mi\u00adcro\u00adbi\u00ado\u00adlogy, Olivier Lemaire, M\u00e9lissa Bel\u00adhamri and Tristan Wag\u00adner dis\u00adsec\u00adted the mi\u00adcrobe to find its CO2<\/sub>-cap\u00adtur\u00ading en\u00adzyme and meas\u00adure how fast and ef\u00adfi\u00adciently it can trans\u00adform CO2<\/sub>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A CO2<\/sub>-con\u00advert\u00ading en\u00adzyme with great po\u00adten\u00adtial<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n

The Max Planck-sci\u00adent\u00adists un\u00adder\u00adtook the chal\u00adlen\u00adging task to isol\u00adate the mi\u00adcro\u00adbial en\u00adzyme. \u201cSince we knew that such en\u00adzymes are sens\u00adit\u00adive to oxy\u00adgen, we had to work in\u00adside an an\u00adaer\u00adobic tent devoid of am\u00adbi\u00adent air to sep\u00adar\u00adate it from the other pro\u00adteins \u2013\u00a0quite com\u00adplic\u00adated, but we suc\u00adceeded\u201d, says Olivier Lemaire. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Once isol\u00adated, the sci\u00adent\u00adists char\u00adac\u00adter\u00adized the en\u00adzyme\u2019s prop\u00ader\u00adties. They showed that it ef\u00adfi\u00adciently gen\u00ader\u00adates form\u00adate from CO2<\/sub>\u00a0but per\u00adforms the re\u00adverse re\u00adac\u00adtion at very slow rates and poor yield. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cSim\u00adilar en\u00adzymes be\u00adlong\u00ading to the fam\u00adily of form\u00adate de\u00adhyd\u00adro\u00adgenases are well known to op\u00ader\u00adate in both dir\u00adec\u00adtions, but we showed that the en\u00adzyme from\u00a0Methermicoccus shengliensis<\/em>\u00a0is nearly uni\u00addirec\u00adtional and could not ef\u00adfi\u00adciently con\u00advert the form\u00adate back into CO2<\/sub>\u201d, re\u00adports M\u00e9lissa Bel\u00adhamri. \u201cWe were quite thrilled by this phe\u00adnomenon, oc\u00adcur\u00adring only in the ab\u00adsence of oxy\u00adgen\u201d, she adds. \u201cSince the form\u00adate gen\u00ader\u00adated from CO2<\/sub>-fix\u00ada\u00adtion can\u00adnot be trans\u00adformed back and there\u00adfore ac\u00adcu\u00admu\u00adlates, such a sys\u00adtem would be a highly in\u00adter\u00adest\u00ading can\u00addid\u00adate for CO2<\/sub>-cap\u00adture, es\u00adpe\u00adcially if we could branch it on an elec\u00adtrode\u201d, Tristan Wag\u00adner points out. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The ad\u00advant\u00adage of that: With the en\u00adzyme nat\u00adur\u00adally or chem\u00adic\u00adally at\u00adtached to an elec\u00adtrode, the \u201cen\u00adergy\u201d re\u00adquired to cap\u00adture the CO2<\/sub>\u00a0will be dir\u00adectly de\u00adlivered by the elec\u00adtrode, without elec\u00adtric cur\u00adrent loss or the need for ex\u00adpens\u00adive or toxic chem\u00adical com\u00adpounds as re\u00adlays. Con\u00adsequently, the en\u00adzyme-bound elec\u00adtrodes are ef\u00adfi\u00adcient and at\u00adtract\u00adive sys\u00adtems for gas con\u00adver\u00adsion pro\u00adced\u00adures. Thus, the pur\u00adi\u00adfied en\u00adzyme was sent to the Uni\u00adversity of Geneva to set up an elec\u00adtrode-based CO2<\/sub>-cap\u00adture sys\u00adtem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elec\u00adtri\u00adcity-based gas con\u00adver\u00adsion<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Selmi\u00adhan Sahin and Ross Milton from the Uni\u00adversity of Geneva are spe\u00adcial\u00adists in elec\u00adtro\u00adchem\u00adistry. They use elec\u00adtrodes con\u00adnec\u00adted to elec\u00adtric cur\u00adrent to per\u00adform chem\u00adical re\u00adac\u00adtions. The elec\u00adtrode-based form\u00adate gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion from CO2<\/sub>\u00a0of\u00adten re\u00adquires pol\u00adlut\u00ading and rare metals, and that is why they tried to re\u00adplace these metals with the en\u00adzyme ex\u00adtrac\u00adted in the group of Tristan Wag\u00adner at the MPIMM. The pro\u00adced\u00adure of en\u00adzyme bind\u00ading on an elec\u00adtrode is not al\u00adways as ef\u00adfi\u00adcient as ex\u00adpec\u00adted, but the en\u00adzyme from Wag\u00adn\u00ader\u2019s re\u00adsearch group has spe\u00adcific char\u00adac\u00adter\u00adist\u00adics that could fa\u00adcil\u00adit\u00adate the pro\u00adcess. The sci\u00adent\u00adists from Switzer\u00adland man\u00adaged to fix the en\u00adzyme on a graph\u00adite elec\u00adtrode, where it per\u00adformed the gas con\u00adver\u00adsion. The meas\u00adured rates were com\u00adpar\u00adable to those ob\u00adtained with clas\u00adsic form\u00adate de\u00adhyd\u00adro\u00adgenases. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cThe strength of this bio\u00adlo\u00adgical sys\u00adtem coupled to the elec\u00adtrode lies in its ef\u00adfi\u00adciency in trans\u00adfer\u00adring the elec\u00adtrons from the elec\u00adtri\u00adcity to\u00adwards CO2<\/sub>\u00a0trans\u00adform\u00ada\u00adtion\u201d, high\u00adlights Lemaire. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Sahin and Milton also con\u00adfirmed that the sys\u00adtem per\u00adforms the re\u00adverse re\u00adac\u00adtion poorly, as pre\u00advi\u00adously ob\u00adserved in the re\u00adac\u00adtion tube. Con\u00adsequently, the mod\u00adi\u00adfied elec\u00adtrode con\u00adtinu\u00adously con\u00adver\u00adted the green\u00adhouse gas to form\u00adate without any de\u00adtect\u00adable side-products gen\u00ader\u00adated or elec\u00adtric cur\u00adrent loss.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"The
The gas conversion process by an electrode-based enzymatic reaction. The enzyme extracted from the microbe, bound to a graphite electrode, can be employed to convert the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide to formate, a molecule that can be used as safe energy storage or as a basis for chemical synthesis. The two molecules are shown as balls and sticks (carbon atoms in grey, oxygen atoms in red). The structure of the protein from the methanogen Methanothermobacter wolfeii is shown as a light blue surface to illustrate the enzyme. The energy required by the electrode can originate from renewable energy sources. \u00a9 O. Lemaire, M. Belhamri and T. Wagner\/ Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

To\u00adwards a new solu\u00adtion for at\u00admo\u00adspheric CO2<\/sub> util\u00adiz\u00ada\u00adtion<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The col\u00adlab\u00ador\u00adat\u00adive work provides a new mo\u00adlecu\u00adlar tool to the sci\u00adentific com\u00admunity: An en\u00adzyme con\u00advert\u00ading CO2<\/sub>\u00a0by trans\u00adfer\u00adring elec\u00adtri\u00adcity with high ef\u00adfi\u00adciency. Re\u00adnew\u00adable green en\u00adergy (e.g., wind or solar) could provide elec\u00adtri\u00adcity to the elec\u00adtrode-based sys\u00adtem that would turn CO2<\/sub>\u00a0into form\u00adate, a mo\u00adlecule dir\u00adectly us\u00adable for ap\u00adplic\u00ada\u00adtions or to store en\u00adergy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cBe\u00adfore us, no one ever tried to study an en\u00adzyme from such a meth\u00adano\u00adgen for an elec\u00adtrode-based gas con\u00adver\u00adsion\u201d, says Tristan Wag\u00adner. \u201cYet, meth\u00adano\u00adgens are nat\u00adural out\u00adstand\u00ading gas con\u00advert\u00aders\u201d. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

As power\u00adful as they could be, em\u00adploy\u00ading en\u00adzymes for large-scale pro\u00adcesses would also re\u00adquire sim\u00adilar-scale en\u00adzyme pro\u00adduc\u00adtion sys\u00adtems, a con\u00adsid\u00ader\u00adable in\u00advest\u00adment. There\u00adfore, while the dis\u00adcovered strategy could, in the\u00adory, sig\u00adni\u00adfic\u00adantly im\u00adprove CO2<\/sub>trans\u00adform\u00ada\u00adtion, a deep know\u00adledge of the en\u00adzyme mech\u00adan\u00adism is ne\u00adces\u00adsary be\u00adfore its ap\u00adplic\u00ada\u00adtion, and the team of re\u00adsearch\u00aders will now have to dis\u00adsect in depth the mo\u00adlecu\u00adlar secrets of the re\u00adac\u00adtion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ori\u00adginal pub\u00adlic\u00ada\u00adtion<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Selmi\u00adhan Sahin*, Olivier N. Lemaire*, M\u00e9lissa Bel\u00adhamri, Ju\u00adlia M. Kurth, Cor\u00adne\u00adlia U. Welte, Tristan Wag\u00adner, Ross D. Milton (2023): Bio\u00adelec\u00adtrocata\u00adlytic CO2<\/sub> Re\u00adduc\u00adtion by Mo-De\u00adpend\u00adent Formyl\u00admeth\u00adan\u00ado\u00adfuran De\u00adhyd\u00adro\u00adgenase. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.<\/em> (15 Sept 2023), e202311981.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DOI:\u00a0https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/anie.202311981<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

* Both au\u00adthors con\u00adtrib\u00aduted equally<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Humanity continuously emits greenhouse gases and thereby worsens global warming. Increasing research efforts go into developing strategies to convert these gases, such as carbon dioxide (CO2), into valuable products. CO2\u00a0accumulates dramatically over the years and is chemically very stable, thus challenging to transform. Yet, for billions of years, some microbes have actively captured CO2\u00a0using highly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","nova_meta_subtitle":"Sci\u00adent\u00adists isol\u00adate a mi\u00adcro\u00adbial en\u00adzyme and branch it on an elec\u00adtrode to ef\u00adfi\u00adciently and uni\u00addirec\u00adtion\u00adally con\u00advert car\u00adbon di\u00adox\u00adide to form\u00adate","footnotes":""},"categories":[5571],"tags":[11865,12922,10744,21439,22062,12858,22842,15720],"supplier":[19411,19321,22810,5913,14632],"class_list":["post-132892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-co2-based","tag-biochemistry","tag-carbon","tag-carboncapture","tag-carbonutilisation","tag-electrodes","tag-enzyme","tag-gasconversion","tag-usecarboncapture","supplier-angewandte-chemie-journal","supplier-max-planck-institute-for-marine-microbiology","supplier-max-planck-society","supplier-radboud-university","supplier-university-of-geneva"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132892"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132892\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132892"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=132892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}