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Cover Picture: Biological Iron‐Monosulfide Production for Efficient Electricity Harvesting from a Deep‐Sea Metal‐Reducing Bacterium (ChemBioChem 5/2010)
Author(s) -
Nakamura Ryuhei,
Okamoto Akihiro,
Tajima Nozomi,
Newton Greg J.,
Kai Fumiyoshi,
Takashima Toshihiro,
Hashimoto Kazuhito
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
chembiochem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.05
H-Index - 126
eISSN - 1439-7633
pISSN - 1439-4227
DOI - 10.1002/cbic.201090015
Subject(s) - microbial fuel cell , shewanella , electron transfer , electrochemistry , nanotechnology , geobacter , shewanella oneidensis , chemistry , electron transport chain , ingenuity , bacteria , environmental chemistry , materials science , environmental science , chemical engineering , biology , biochemistry , electrode , biofilm , engineering , neoclassical economics , organic chemistry , anode , economics , genetics
The cover picture shows the microbial ingenuity of the deep‐sea Fe‐reducing bacterium Shewanella loihica PV‐4 for self‐organizing an electrically conductive network by using biogenic iron sulfides (FeS) as extracellular electron‐transfer conduits. On p. 643 ff., K. Hashimoto et al. show that Shewanella cells exploit Fe 3d electrons in the nanosized FeS colloids for a respiratory electron‐transfer reaction. In situ biological production of FeS in electrochemical cells enabled the generation of a microbial current two orders of magnitude higher than in cell cultures lacking the biogenic minerals. This substantial increase in microbial current represents the first example of exploiting the electron‐conducting properties of naturally abundant biogenic minerals to efficiently harvest metabolized electrons in an electrochemical cell. The present results therefore shed light on bio‐ and geoinspired approaches for improving the performance of bioanode materials in biological fuel cells.