Synthetic Biology and the Possibilities in Achieving a Plant …
129
Cathode
Anode
Aerobic
Anoxic
Resistor
e
-
e
-
H
+
(CH O)
2
n
CO 2
NO /NO
3
2
-
-
N 2
wastewater
Fig. 8 The working of a bioelectrode, a microbial fuel cell (MFC): at the anode, CO 2 is reduced
to biomass with water or NH
+
4 derived electrons and from the anode to the cathode electrons are
pushed to reduce NO
−
2 or NO
−
3 by gaining energy, generating electricity. As anode and cathode are
connected with a resistor to close the circuit in a MFC, nitrates and nitrites can act as e-acceptor
and are reduced to molecular nitrogen [2]
electric current by pushing electrons from the anode towards the cathode. Nitrate
and nitrite in flowing wastewater around the cathode or in soils act as electron acceptors [2, 122]. If the dissolved oxygen concentration is increased in a growth system
with autotrophic, thermophilic nitrifying and facultative heterotrophic denitrifying
bacteria population adapted to a low dissolved oxygen concentration, the bacterial
composition apparently changes from a Firmicutes to a Proteobacteria dominance,
from Bacilli to alpha, beta, and gamma Proteobacteria dominance [62]. In order to
unravel such fundamental principles of life and to be able to improve applications
in health, medicine, agriculture, veterinary as well as food industry, the engineering
and continuous modification of microbial chassis, inter alia towards cathode, anode
double-chamber with nitrifying and denitrifying MFC bacteria chassis, is presently
one of the best ways to solve challenges of N overfertilization, wastewater purification
and atmospheric pollution (Fig. 8; [24, 57, 75, 85, 125]).
References
1. Acevedo-Rocha, C.G.: The synthetic nature of biology. In: Hagen, K., Engelhard, M., Toepfer,
G. (eds.) Ambivalences of Creating Life. Ethics of Science and Technology Assessment.
Schriftenreihe der EA European Academy of Technology and Innovation Assessment GmbH,
vol. 45, Springer, Cham (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21088-9_2
129
Cathode
Anode
Aerobic
Anoxic
Resistor
e
-
e
-
H
+
(CH O)
2
n
CO 2
NO /NO
3
2
-
-
N 2
wastewater
Fig. 8 The working of a bioelectrode, a microbial fuel cell (MFC): at the anode, CO 2 is reduced
to biomass with water or NH
+
4 derived electrons and from the anode to the cathode electrons are
pushed to reduce NO
−
2 or NO
−
3 by gaining energy, generating electricity. As anode and cathode are
connected with a resistor to close the circuit in a MFC, nitrates and nitrites can act as e-acceptor
and are reduced to molecular nitrogen [2]
electric current by pushing electrons from the anode towards the cathode. Nitrate
and nitrite in flowing wastewater around the cathode or in soils act as electron acceptors [2, 122]. If the dissolved oxygen concentration is increased in a growth system
with autotrophic, thermophilic nitrifying and facultative heterotrophic denitrifying
bacteria population adapted to a low dissolved oxygen concentration, the bacterial
composition apparently changes from a Firmicutes to a Proteobacteria dominance,
from Bacilli to alpha, beta, and gamma Proteobacteria dominance [62]. In order to
unravel such fundamental principles of life and to be able to improve applications
in health, medicine, agriculture, veterinary as well as food industry, the engineering
and continuous modification of microbial chassis, inter alia towards cathode, anode
double-chamber with nitrifying and denitrifying MFC bacteria chassis, is presently
one of the best ways to solve challenges of N overfertilization, wastewater purification
and atmospheric pollution (Fig. 8; [24, 57, 75, 85, 125]).
References
1. Acevedo-Rocha, C.G.: The synthetic nature of biology. In: Hagen, K., Engelhard, M., Toepfer,
G. (eds.) Ambivalences of Creating Life. Ethics of Science and Technology Assessment.
Schriftenreihe der EA European Academy of Technology and Innovation Assessment GmbH,
vol. 45, Springer, Cham (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21088-9_2