Engineering PQS Biosynthesis Pathway for Enhancement of Bioelectricity Production in Pseudomonas aeruginosa Microbial Fuel Cells

Victor Bochuan Wang, Song Lin Chua, Bin Cao, Thomas Seviour, Victor J. Nesatyy, Enrico Marsili, Staffan Kjelleberg, Michael Givskov, Tim Tolker-Nielsen, Hao Song, Joachim Say Chye Loo, Liang Yang

Research output: Journal PublicationArticlepeer-review

80 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The biosynthesis of the redox shuttle, phenazines, in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, an ubiquitous microorganism in wastewater microflora, is regulated by the 2-heptyl-3,4-dihydroxyquinoline (PQS) quorum-sensing system. However, PQS inhibits anaerobic growth of P. aeruginosa. We constructed a P. aeruginosa strain that produces higher concentrations of phenazines under anaerobic conditions by over-expressing the PqsE effector in a PQS negative ΔpqsC mutant. The engineered strain exhibited an improved electrical performance in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) and potentiostat-controlled electrochemical cells with an approximate five-fold increase of maximum current density relative to the parent strain. Electrochemical analysis showed that the current increase correlates with an over-synthesis of phenazines. These results therefore demonstrate that targeting microbial cell-to-cell communication by genetic engineering is a suitable technique to improve power output of bioelectrochemical systems.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere63129
JournalPLoS ONE
Volume8
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 20 May 2013
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Biochemistry,Genetics and Molecular Biology
  • General Agricultural and Biological Sciences

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