New Approach to Recycle Greenhouse Gas; Carbon Dioxide Conversion Process May Be Adapted for Biofuel Synthesis

Hu and her colleagues knew that the intracellular environment of the bacterium Azotobacter vinelandii favors other reduction reactions, due in part to its well-known oxygen protection mechanisms and presence of physiological electron donors. But they were unsure if the intracellular environment would support the conversion of CO2 to CO.

They were excited to discover that the bacterium could reduce CO2 and release CO as a product, which makes it an attractive whole-cell system that could be explored further for new ways of recycling atmospheric CO2 into biofuels and other commercial chemical products. These findings of Hu’s group establish the nitrogenase enzyme as a fascinating template for developing approaches to energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly fuel production.

“Our observation that a bacterium can convert CO2 to CO opens up new avenues for biotechnological adaptation of this reaction into a process that effectively recycles the greenhouse gas into the starting material for biofuel synthesis that will help us simultaneously combat two major challenges we face nowadays: global warming and energy shortages,” Hu said.

Johannes Rebelein, Martin Stiebritz and Chi Chung Lee from UCI contributed to the study, which was supported by UCI and a Hellman Fellowship.

Contacts and sources:
University of California, Irvine