414: Producing Proton Power Perpetually

This episode: Microalgae can produce hydrogen, but other
metabolic pathways take priority, except when special engineered
hydrogenase enzymes can overcome this limitation!


Download Episode (8.4 MB, 12.2 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Alphapapillomavirus 11

Takeaways
There are many options being explored as ways to replace fossil
fuels. Electricity and batteries are good, but they have their
limitations, especially for long-distance high-energy travel such
as airplanes. Hydrogen is one good option: high energy density,
clean-burning, simple to produce. Microbes can produce hydrogen
through various metabolic pathways, including fermentation,
nitrogen fixation byproduct, and photosynthesis. However,
competing metabolic pathways make microbial hydrogen production
less efficient.

In this study, scientists engineer a hydrogenase enzyme for
hydrogen production in microalgae that can compete better with
carbon fixation as a destination for the electrons and protons
that hydrogen production requires. This engineered enzyme allowed
the algae to produce hydrogen continuously, even during
photosynthesis.

Journal Paper:
Ben-Zvi O, Dafni E, Feldman Y, Yacoby I. 2019. Re-routing
photosynthetic energy for continuous hydrogen production in vivo.
Biotechnol Biofuels 12:266.


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