An Insight of Synergy between Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella variicola in a Microbial Fuel Cell

Abstract

The interspecies interactions in microbial communities are very complex, rendering identification of synergistic or antagonistic relationships very difficult; however, understanding the mutualistic relationship between the microbes is exigent to gain deeper insight into their performance in wastewater fed microbial fuel cells (MFCs). In the present study, we aimed to explore the ecological networks between the microorganisms in a defined coculture system comprising with Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) and Klebsiella variicola (K. variicola). The coculture showed around 3 times higher current density in MFCs compared with either of these two bacteria alone. Metabolite analysis demonstrated that the fermentative metabolite (1,3-propanediol) produced by K. variicola stimulated the P. aeruginosa to produce a higher amount of pyocyanin through synergistic interactions, leading to the enhancement in the performance of coculture MFCs fed with palm oil mill effluent (POME). This study proves that the metabolite based “interspecies ecological communicatio” can enhance the electrochemical activity in MFCs.

Electricigens in the anode of microbial fuel cells: pure cultures versus mixed communities

“…After optimization of oxygen supply, 400% enhancement of current production was observed [94]. The defined co-culture system of P. aeruginosa and Klebsiella variicola was more efficient than either of these two strains alone, and the maximum current density was about 3 times higher [95]. Further optimization of the process parameters by response surface methodology led to a maximum power density of 12.88 W/m 3 [96].…”

Synergistic effects in a microbial fuel cell between co-cultures and a photosynthetic alga Chlorella vulgaris improve performance

“…This would also minimise the power required for sparging the anode with N 2 gas. Previous studies have demonstrated the syntrophic relation of P. aeruginosa in co-cultures to be based on metabolite-based mutualism [ 36 , 37 ]. The combined respiration of E. coli and P. aeruginosa in the co-culture resulted in improved biofilm formation and substrate utilization (Figures 3 and 4 ).…”

Peformance Evaluation of Petrochemical Wastewater Fed Air-Cathode Microbial Fuel Cells Using Yeast Biocatalyst

“…The charge transfer resistances Rct1 was found slightly lower than the Rct2 indicating a fast charge transfer between the yeast cells at biofilm as the electrode (ter Heijne et al, 2018). The mass transfer resistance was found to be significantly higher compared to the other resistances indicating poor diffusivity might be due to the higher diffusion path (M Amirul Islam, Ethiraj, Cheng, Yousuf, & Khan, 2018). Further study should be done to reduce the mass transfer resistance in the MFC for the enhancement in the power generation.…”