Sensitivity to Oxygen in Microbial Electrochemical Systems Biofilms

Enzymatic and Microbial Electrochemical Systems

Enzymatic and microbial electrochemical systems (MESs) utilize the ability of biological components— enzymes and microbes—to catalyze an oxidation or reduction reaction at solid-state electrodes. A commonly known system is the microbial fuel cell in which electricity is produced via the microbially catalyzed oxidation of organic matter. The electrochemical systems that are discussed have a wide...

Microbial Biofilms

An Electrochemical Strategy to Measure the Thickness of Electroactive Microbial Biofilms

The study of electroactive microbial biofilms often requires knowledge of the biofilm thickness. Unfortunately, this parameter is, nowadays, only accessible through expensive microscopic techniques. This work overcomes this limitation by presenting a new strategy, exploiting the use of chronoamperometry (CA) alone. A mixed-culture biofilm is exposed to an O2-saturated solution during anode resp...

Microbial diversity of biofilms in dental unit water systems.

We investigated the microbial diversity of biofilms found in dental unit water systems (DUWS) by three methods. The first was microscopic examination by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), acridine orange staining, and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH). Most bacteria present in the biofilm were viable. FISH detected the beta and gamma, but not the alpha, subclasses of Proteobacteria: In ...

Microbial diversity in biofilms from corroding heating systems.

Culture-independent investigations of the bacterial diversity and activity in district heating systems with and without corrosion did not make it possible to relate one group of microorganisms with the observed corrosion. Fluorescence in situ hybridization by oligonucleotide probes revealed the dominance of beta-proteobacteria, sulphate reducing prokaryotes and alpha-proteobacteria. Analysis of...