E. coli bacteria for electricity production. Free Technical Library News

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E. coli bacteria for electricity production

17.09.2023

Researchers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne (EPFL) have made a significant breakthrough by creating an artificially modified strain of E. coli that is capable of generating electricity from brewery wastewater. This strain has surpassed the effectiveness of even the latest bioengineering developments in this area.

To increase the electrical activity of E. coli to produce electricity, the researchers modified its genome to include instructions for creating protein complexes similar to those found in the bacterium Shewanella oneidensis. This latter is famous for its ability to generate electrical current by oxidizing metals, which can be used, for example, to detect toxic metals, including arsenic.

The engineers successfully integrated all components of the S. oneidensis electrical pathway into E. coli, resulting in twice the efficiency of previously bioengineered strains that only partially replicated the pathway.

However, the question remains whether these bacteria are capable of working in real industrial conditions, and not just in the laboratory. Initial research included analyzing the feasibility of using algae to treat brewery wastewater. Since such plants must treat water containing residues of sugars, starch, alcohol and yeast, it requires treatment before release into the environment to avoid unwanted activation of microorganisms.

The team tested their system, using modified E. coli, on wastewater collected from a local brewery in Lausanne, Switzerland. The modified bacteria successfully treated wastewater in 50 hours.

Thus, the engineered E. coli was found to be much more effective at treating industrial wastewater, even though its ability to generate electricity was still slightly inferior to S. oneidensis, the scientists said.

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