Beijing Time September 19 News, according to foreign media reports, at present, scientists a new study shows that human intestinal bacteria can ' power '. The study is published in the recently published journal Nature.
Daniel Portnoy, a biologist at the University of California, Berkeley, Daniel Portenois, says that power generation bacteria are not a new concept and can be found in environments far from human life, such as the bottom of a lake. But scientists have not known that bacteria in rotting plants or mammals can generate electricity in a simpler way, especially farm animals. In the lab, Portnoi and the team first cultivated a group of Listeria monocytogenes, which is easily ingested in daily diets, infecting listeria.
This food poisoning is the most dangerous for the immune system, pregnant women (which can cause miscarriage), newborn and elderly populations.
By placing Listeria monocytogenes in the electrochemical chamber and using wires or electrodes to capture the generated electrons, the team found that these foodborne bacteria can generate electricity.
Why is the discovery surprising?
Portnoi points out why some bacteria produce electricity for several reasons, such as removing electrons from the metabolic process, but the main purpose is to produce energy. "But Listeria monocytogenes also has other ways of generating energy, such as by using oxygen," said Sam Light, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, Sam Lette, the first author of the study.
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This generation process may be a ' backup system for use under specific conditions ', for example: they may start the power generation function in the intestinal hypoxic state. The researchers screened the mutant bacteria (those that were missing or altered) to determine which genes were necessary for the bacteria to generate electricity.
These genes, in turn, encode certain proteins, which are a key factor in generating electricity.
They found that the power generation system used by the bacteria (a series of proteins that carry electrons out of the bacterium) is simpler than the power generation systems used by other electrically induced bacteria, such as those living on the bottom of the lake. Most of the previous generation systems were found in Gram-negative bacteria, or their cell walls were made up of two layers, isolating the bacteria inside and outside the environment.
The researchers ' recent analysis of the bacteria showed Gram-positive, meaning they had only one layer of cell walls, and the electrons were released in a lower barrier. But when electrons arrive outside the bacteria, it is unclear where the electrons will flow. Other call bacteria usually transfer electrons to minerals such as iron or manganese in an external environment.
In the study Group's experiment, electrons would flow into the electrodes, and many different molecules in the gut, such as iron, might combine and accept electrons. At the same time, the researchers found that these call bacteria require the survival of lutein protein, lutein is a variant of vitamin B2, a large number of intestinal presence.
The researchers later found that the bacteria not only needed lutein to survive, but that the free-floating lutein in the surrounding environment enhanced the activity of the bacteria to generate electricity.
Power generation Bacteria
Once the team knows which genes are responsible for generating electricity, they will use a similar process to further identify hundreds of types of power-generating bacteria, usually some of which are present in the gut, while others play an important role in the fermentation of cheeses or as probiotics. Laty Cahoon, a microbiology biologist at the University of Illinois in the United States, and Nancy Freitag, Lati Kahoen, did not participate in the study, noting that, given that bacteria may survive in our highly charged environment,
This latest power generation method may help to design bacterial base energy generation techniques. Wright says researchers have now developed microbial fuel cells, or batteries that use bacteria to generate electricity, just like a garbage disposal plant.
Because this latest process is simpler, it is possible to improve it, but it is premature to conclude.
