美國華盛頓大學等機構研究人員在新一期英國Nature Communications雜志上發(fā)表報告說,，他們發(fā)現(xiàn)一種細菌可以在有氧氣存在的自然條件下生產氫氣，有望成為較廉價的氫氣來源,。
“藍藻菌51142”細菌在有氧環(huán)境可生產氫氣
報告說，這種名為“藍藻菌51142”的細菌在白天和夜晚的生理活動不同,。在白天有光線的時候，它可以進行光合作用,，生成氧氣和糖分；而在夜晚,，它會燃燒白天生成的糖分來提供能量，這個過程會耗盡細胞內的氧氣,，使得固氮酶可以安全工作，在有氧環(huán)境中也可生產氫氣,。
通常，固氮酶只要和氧氣接觸就會被破壞,，因此此前發(fā)現(xiàn)的一些可生產氫氣的微生物都需要在無氧環(huán)境中工作,，使得產氫成本提高。
研究人員希馬徳里·帕克萊希說,，他們正計劃對這種細菌進行基因改造，進一步提高其產氫量,。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推薦原文出處：
Nature Communications doi:10.1038/ncomms1139
High rates of photobiological H2 production by a cyanobacterium under aerobic conditions
Anindita Bandyopadhyay,Jana St?ckel,Hongtao Min,Louis A. Sherman& Himadri B. Pakrasi
Among the emerging renewable and green energy sources, biohydrogen stands out as an appealing choice. Hydrogen can be produced by certain groups of microorganisms that possess functional nitrogenase and/or bidirectional hydrogenases. In particular, the potential of photobiological hydrogen production by oxygenic photosynthetic microbes has attracted significant interest. However, nitrogenase and hydrogenase are generally oxygen sensitive, and require protective mechanisms to function in an aerobic extracellular environment. Here, we describe Cyanothece sp. ATCC 51142, a unicellular, diazotrophic cyanobacterium with the capacity to generate high levels of hydrogen under aerobic conditions. Wild-type Cyanothece 51142 can produce hydrogen at rates as high as 465?μmol per mg of chlorophyll per hour in the presence of glycerol. Hydrogen production in this strain is mediated by an efficient nitrogenase system, which can be manipulated to convert solar energy into hydrogen at rates that are several fold higher, compared with any previously described wild-type hydrogen-producing photosynthetic microbe.
