53 research outputs found

    Predicting and experimental evaluating bio-electrochemical synthesis — A case study with Clostridium kluyveri

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    Microbial electrosynthesis is a highly promising application of microbial electrochemical technologies for the sustainable production of organic compounds. At the same time a multitude of questions need to be answered and challenges to be met. Central for its further development is using appropriate electroactive microorganisms and their efficient extracellular electron transfer (EET) as well as wiring of the metabolism to EET. Among others, Clostridia are believed to represent electroactive microbes being highly promising for microbial electrosynthesis. We investigated the potential steps and challenges for the bio-electrochemical fermentation (electro-fermentation) of mid-chain organic acids using Clostridium kluyveri. Starting from a metabolic model the potential limitations of the metabolism as well as beneficial scenarios for electrochemical stimulation were identified and experimentally investigated. C. kluyveri was shown to not be able to exchange electrons with an electrode directly. Therefore, exogenous mediators (2-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone, potassium ferrocyanide, neutral red, methyl viologen, methylene blue, and the macrocyclic cobalt hexaamine [Co(trans-diammac)]) were tested for their toxicity and electro-fermentations were performed in 1\ua0L bioreactors covering 38 biotic and 8 abiotic runs. When using C. kluyveri and mediators, maximum absolute current densities higher than the abiotic controls were detected for all runs. At the same time, no significant impact on the cell metabolism (product formation, carbon recovery, growth rate) was found. From this observation, we deduce general potential limitations of electro-fermentations with C. kluyveri and discuss strategies to successfully overcome them

    Keyword: current developments in youth research

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    Redox dependent metabolic shift in Clostridium autoethanogenum by extracellular electron supply

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    Background: Microbial electrosynthesis is a novel approach that aims at shifting the cellular metabolism towards electron-dense target products by extracellular electron supply. Many organisms including several acetogenic bacteria have been shown to be able to consume electrical current. However, suitable hosts for relevant industrial processes are yet to be discovered, and major knowledge gaps about the underlying fundamental processes still remain

    A novel uplc-ms/ms method identifies organ-specific dipeptide profiles.

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    Background: Amino acids have a central role in cell metabolism, and intracellular changes contribute to the pathogenesis of various diseases, while the role and specific organ distribution of dipeptides is largely unknown. Method: We established a sensitive, rapid and reliable UPLC-MS/MS method for quantification of 36 dipeptides. Dipeptide patterns were analyzed in brown and white adipose tissues, brain, eye, heart, kidney, liver, lung, muscle, sciatic nerve, pancreas, spleen and thymus, serum and urine of C57BL/6N wildtype mice and related to the corresponding amino acid profiles. Results: A total of 30 out of the 36 investigated dipeptides were detected with organ-specific distribution patterns. Carnosine and anserine were most abundant in all organs, with the highest concentrations in muscles. In liver, Asp-Gln and Ala-Gln concentrations were high, in the spleen and thymus, Glu-Ser and Gly-Asp. In serum, dipeptide concentrations were several magnitudes lower than in organ tissues. In all organs, dipeptides with C-terminal proline (Gly-Pro and Leu-Pro) were present at higher concentrations than dipeptides with N-terminal proline (Pro-Gly and Pro-Leu). Organ-specific amino acid profiles were related to the dipeptide profile with several amino acid concentrations being related to the isomeric form of the dipeptides. Aspartate, histidine, proline and serine tissue concentrations correlated with dipeptide concentrations, when the amino acids were present at the C-but not at the N-terminus. Conclusion: Our multi-dipeptide quantification approach demonstrates organ-specific dipeptide distribution. This method allows us to understand more about the dipeptide metabolism in disease or in healthy state

    Isotope dependence of the Zeeman effect in lithium-like calcium

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    The magnetic moment μ of a bound electron, generally expressed by the g-factor μ=−g μB s ħ−1 with μB the Bohr magneton and s the electron’s spin, can be calculated by bound-state quantum electrodynamics (BS-QED) to very high precision. The recent ultra-precise experiment on hydrogen-like silicon determined this value to eleven significant digits, and thus allowed to rigorously probe the validity of BS-QED. Yet, the investigation of one of the most interesting contribution to the g-factor, the relativistic interaction between electron and nucleus, is limited by our knowledge of BS-QED effects. By comparing the g-factors of two isotopes, it is possible to cancel most of these contributions and sensitively probe nuclear effects. Here, we present calculations and experiments on the isotope dependence of the Zeeman effect in lithium-like calcium ions. The good agreement between the theoretical predicted recoil contribution and the high-precision g-factor measurements paves the way for a new generation of BS-QED tests
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