Light energy is easily accessible and sufficient, and is recognized as one of the safest, greenest and most ideal alternative energy sources for mankind in the future.Natural photosynthesis can directly use light to fix carbon dioxide in the air to synthesize organic matter, but photosynthesis is less efficient (usually less than 1%).
Microbial artificial heterozygosity system, which has been developed in recent years, combines semiconductor materials that capture light energy efficiently and microbial cells that are highly specifically.
However, due to the insulating nature of the phospholipid bilayer, it is very difficult for the semiconductor materials to absorb light energy into the cell.Therefore, how to efficiently convert photoelectron into bioenergy for bacteria is an urgent problem to be solved.
On July 22, the international journal Science Advances published a new "artificial light cell" construction method, which effectively converts light energy from semiconductor materials into bioenergy.
Gao Xiang, associate researcher at the Institute of Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Advanced Institute of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Tian Bozhi, professor of Chicago University, were the first authors of the paper.
Synthetic Design "BioSoft Interface"
A new artificial system ("artificial light cells") is synthesized by integrating light-absorbing semiconductor materials with highly selective catalytic living cells, which can potentially improve the efficiency of artificial photosynthesis.
In nature, centimeter-scale animal scales and epidermal cells, micron-scale calcium plate gold algae shell material and cells, can form a protective shell material.Inspired by the material-biological interface in nature, the research team conceived the idea of synthesizing CdS semiconductor materials in the peripheral space of E. coli, which were coated with nano-photovoltaic particles and synthesized a new biointerface.
"The study demonstrates a method of synthesizing CdS semiconductor materials in bacterial periplasmic space by using microorganisms themselves to create nanoscale exoskeletons to form material-biological heterozygote," said Gao Xiang, the paper's correspondent.Semiconductor nanoclusters have low crystallinity and are stabilized by periplasmic peptidoglycan matrix, thus providing a "softer" material-biological interface and better biocompatibility than chemically synthesized semiconductors.
In addition, the team investigated the ability of periplasmic semiconductor clusters to combine photosensitivity with bacterial metabolism to enhance intracellular biosynthesis and light-driven bio-chemical production.
It is found that the bio-hybrid material exhibits higher film density after the mineralization of semiconductor clusters, and the bio-hybrid material can mineralize many metal elements to form "high entropy" semiconductor clusters.
Construction of new "artificial light cells"
In this study, the team also found that the bacterial periplasmic space can provide a unique reaction space for the biomineralization of semiconductor nanoclusters.
Gaoxiang introduced that the biological heterozygote, a peripheral space material used to enhance light energy-driven chemical synthesis, can be extended to other bacteria or cells to improve light energy utilization and product synthesis.Combining semiconductors, abundant molecular biology tools and existing microbial models, the Periplasmic Space-Biohybrid Platform will be able to produce bio-based chemicals, fuels and drug molecules in an economical and efficient manner.
Green bio-manufacturing is an important part of sustainable development of human society. Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is a large amount of energy-supplying substance in vivo for biosynthesis of many important chemicals.Terpenoids, for example, are the most important natural products of artemisinin, paclitaxel and lycopene, which are synthesized mainly by MVA, which consumes a lot of ATP.