Microbial electrochemical systems electron

Since then the investigations of microbial systems were continued and extended to the electrochemical and electronic behavior of plant and mammalian tissues. Therefore, now one can say that we are really in the midst of it all. Undoubtedly life might sometimes appear simpler if research activities were restricted to isolated biochemical systems incorporated into artificial membranes. Unfortunately it is almost impossible to extrapolate these findings... 

Proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) is known to play an important role in a variety of biological processes, including microbial iron transport by ferric enterobactin, enzyme catalysis in systems such as fumarate reductase and nitrate reducatase, and dioxygen binding by the non-heme iron protein hemerythrin. " As such, pH-dependent electrochemical studies can play an important role in unraveling these mechanisms. The most heavily studied biological system known to involve PCET is cytochrome c oxidase, the terminal electron-transfer complex of the mitochondrial respiratory chain, which catalyzes the reduction of molecular oxygen to water. ... 

A bioelectrochemical system (BES) is an electrochemical device used to convert electrical energy into chemical energy and vice versa. A BES consists of an anode and a cathode compartment, often separated by an ion-selective membrane. The anode is the site of the oxidation reaction which liberates electrons to the electrode and protons to the electrolyte the cathode is the site of the reduction reaction, which consumes the electrons to reduce a final electron acceptor. To maintain electroneutrality of the system, protons (or other cations) need to migrate to the cathode through the ion-selective membrane. Depending on the half-cell potentials of the electrodes, a BES can be operated either as a microbial fuel cell (MFC), in which electric energy is generated, or as a microbial... 

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