Coupling anaerobic bacteria and microbial fuel cells as whole-cell environmental biosensors

Abstract

Microorganisms have evolved to respond to environmental factors allowing adaption to changing conditions and minimisation of potential harm. Microbes have the ability to sense a wide range of biotic and abiotic factors including nutrient levels, analytes, temperature, contaminants, community quorum, and metabolic activity. Due to this ability, the use of whole-cell microbes as biosensors is attractive as it can provide real-time in situ information on biologically relevant factors through qualitative and quantitative out-

Plugging in microbial metabolism for industrial applications

“…While first gaining much attention due to their ability to generate electricity, the ability of microbes to externally transfer electrons both directly and indirectly, has seen interest in their use for environmental monitoring, bioremediation applications and industrial processes (see 1,2 ).…”