Sodium concentration cycling was examined as a new strategy for redistributing carbon storage products and increasing autofermentative product yields following photosynthetic carbon fixation in the cyanobacterium Arthrospira (Spirulina) maxima. The salt-tolerant hyper-carbonate strain CS-328 was grown in a medium containing 0.24 to 1.24 M sodium, resulting in increased biosynthesis of soluble carbohydrates up to 50% of the dry weight at 1.24 M sodium. Hypoionic stress during dark anaerobic metabolism (autofermentation) was induced by resuspending filaments in low sodium (bi)carbonate buffer (0.21 M), which resulted in accelerated autofermentation rates. For cells grown in 1.24 M NaCl, the fermentative yields of acetate, ethanol and formate increase substantially to 0.75, 1.56 and 1.54 mmol/(gDW*day), respectively (36, 121, and 6-fold increases in rate relative to cells grown in 0.24 M NaCl). Catabolism of endogenous carbohydrate increased by approximately 2-fold upon hypoionic stress. For cultures grown at all salt concentrations, hydrogen was produced but its yield did not correlate with increased catabolism of soluble carbohydrates. Instead, ethanol excretion becomes a preferred route for fermentative NADH reoxidation together with intraceullar accumulation of reduced products of acetyl-CoA formation when cells are hypoionically stressed. In the absence of hypoionic stress, hydrogen production is a major beneficial pathway for NAD+ regeneration without wasting carbon intermediates such as ethanol derived from acetyl-CoA. This switch presumably improves the overall cellular economy by retaining carbon within the cell until aerobic conditions return and the acetyl unit can be used for biosynthesis or oxidized via respiration for much greater energy return.

The nifJ gene codes for pyruvate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase, which reduces ferredoxin during fermentative catabolism of pyruvate to acetyl-CoA. A nifJ knock-out mutant was constructed that lacks one of two pathways for the oxidation of pyruvate in the cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. strain PCC 7002. Remarkably, the photoautotrophic growth rate of this mutant increased by 20% relative to wild type (WT) under light-dark cycling. This is attributed to an increase in the quantum yield of PSII charge separation as measured by photosynthetic electron turnover efficiency using fast repetition rate fluorometry (Fv/Fm). During autofermentation the excretion of acetate and lactate products by nifJ mutant cells decreased 2-fold and 1.2-fold, respectively. Although nifJ cells displayed higher in vitro hydrogenase activity than WT, H2 production in vivo was 1.3-fold lower than WT. Inhibition of acetate-CoA ligase and pyruvate dehydrogenase complex by glycerol eliminated acetate production, with resulting loss of reductant and a 3-fold decrease in H2 production by nifJ cells compared to WT. Continuous electrochemical detection of dissolved H2 revealed two temporally resolved phases of H2 production during autofermentation, a minor first phase and a major second phase. The first phase was attributed to reduction of ferredoxin because it decreased 2-fold in nifJ cells. The second phase was attributed to glycolytic NADH production and decreased 20% in nifJ cells. Measurement of the intracellular NADH/NAD+ ratio revealed that the reductant generated by PFOR contributing to the first phase of H2 production was not in equilibrium with bulk NADH/NAD+, while the second phase corresponded to the equilibrium NADH-mediated process.

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The accumulation of bioenergy carriers was assessed in two starchless mutants of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (the sta6 [ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase] and sta7-10 [isoamylase] mutants), a control strain (CC124), and two complemented strains of the sta7-10 mutant. The results indicate that the genetic blockage of starch synthesis in the sta6 and sta7-10 mutants increases the accumulation of lipids on a cellular basis during nitrogen deprivation relative to that in the CC124 control as determined by conversion to fatty acid methyl esters. However, this increased level of lipid accumulation is energetically insufficient to completely offset the loss of cellular starch that is synthesized by CC124 during nitrogen deprivation. We therefore investigated acetate utilization and O2 evolution to obtain further insights into the physiological adjustments utilized by the two starchless mutants in the absence of starch synthesis. The results demonstrate that both starchless mutants metabolize less acetate and have more severely attenuated levels of photosynthetic O2 evolution than CC124, indicating that a decrease in overall anabolic processes is a significant physiological response in the starchless mutants during nitrogen deprivation. Interestingly, two independent sta7-10:STA7 complemented strains exhibited significantly greater quantities of cellular starch and lipid than CC124 during acclimation to nitrogen deprivation. Moreover, the complemented strains synthesized significant quantities of starch even when cultured in nutrient-replete medium.

Some aquatic microbial oxygenic photoautotrophs (AMOPs) make hydrogen (H2), a carbon-neutral, renewable product derived from water, in low yields during autofermentation (anaerobic metabolism) of intracellular carbohydrates previously stored during aerobic photosynthesis. We have constructed a mutant (the ldhA mutant) of the cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. strain PCC 7002 lacking the enzyme for the NADH-dependent reduction of pyruvate to D-lactate, the major fermentative reductant sink in this AMOP. Both nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) metabolomic methods have shown that autofermentation by the ldhA mutant resulted in no D-lactate production and higher concentrations of excreted acetate, alanine, succinate, and hydrogen (up to 5-fold) compared to that by the wild type. The measured intracellular NAD(P)(H) concentrations demonstrated that the NAD(P)H/NAD(P)+ ratio increased appreciably during autofermentation in the ldhA strain; we propose this to be the principal source of the observed increase in H2 production via an NADH-dependent, bidirectional [NiFe] hydrogenase. Despite the elevated NAD(P)H/NAD(P)+ ratio, no decrease was found in the rate of anaerobic conversion of stored carbohydrates. The measured energy conversion efficiency (ECE) from biomass (as glucose equivalents) converted to hydrogen in the ldhA mutant is 12%. Together with the unimpaired photoautotrophic growth of the ldhA mutant, these attributes reveal that metabolic engineering is an effective strategy to enhance H2 production in AMOPs without compromising viability.

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High valence states in manganese clusters are a key feature of the function of one of the most important catalysts found in nature, the water-oxidizing complex of photosystem II. We describe a detailed electrochemical investigation of two bio-inspired manganese-oxo complexes, [Mn4O4L6] (L = diphenylphosphinate (1) and bis(p-methoxyphenyl)phosphinate (2)), in solution, attached to an electrode surface and suspended within a Nafion film. These complexes contain a cubic [Mn4O4]6+ core stabilized by phosphinate ligands. They have previously been shown to be active and durable photocatalysts for the oxidation of water to dioxygen. A comparison of catalytic photocurrent generated by films deposited by two methods of electrode immobilization reveals that doping of the catalyst in Nafion results in higher photocurrent than was observed for a solid layer of cubane on an electrode surface. In dichloromethane solution, and under conditions of cyclic voltammetry, the one-electron oxidation processes 1/1+ and 2/2+ were found to be reversible and quasi-reversible, respectively. Some decomposition of 1+ and 2+ was detected on the longer timescale of bulk electrolysis. Both compounds also undergo a two-electron, chemically irreversible reduction in dichloromethane, with a mechanism that is dependent on scan rate and influenced by the presence of a proton donor. When immersed in aqueous electrolyte, the reduction process exhibits a limited level of chemical reversibility. These data provide insights into the catalytic operation of these molecules during photo-assisted electrolysis of water and highlight the importance of the strongly electron-donating ligand environment about the manganese ions in the ability of the cubanes to photocatalyze water oxidation at low overpotentials.

Photoelectrochemical cells that efficiently split water into oxygen and hydrogen, "the fuel of the future", need to combine robust water oxidation catalysts at the anode (2H2O [rightward arrow] O2 + 4H+ + 4e-) with hydrogen reduction catalysts at the cathode (2H+ + 2e-[rightward arrow] H2). Both sets of catalysts will, ideally, operate at low overpotentials and employ light-driven or light-assisted processes. In this Perspective article, we focus on significant efforts to develop solid state materials and molecular coordination complexes as catalyst for water oxidation. We briefly review the field with emphasis on the various molecular catalysts that have been developed and then examine the activity of molecular catalysts in water oxidation following their attachment to conducting electrodes. For such molecular species to be useful in a solar water-splitting device it is preferable that they are securely and durably affixed to an electrode surface. We also consider recent developments aimed at combining the action of molecular catalysts with light absorption so that light driven water oxidation may be achieved.

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To mitigate some of the potentially deleterious environmental and agricultural consequences associated with current land-based-biofuel feedstocks, we propose the use of biofuels derived from aquatic microbial oxygenic photoautotrophs (AMOPs), more commonly known as cyanobacteria, algae, and diatoms. Herein we review their demonstrated productivity in mass culturing and aspects of their physiology that are particularly attractive for integration into renewable biofuel applications. Compared with terrestrial crops, AMOPs are inherently more efficient solar collectors, use less or no land, can be converted to liquid fuels using simpler technologies than cellulose, and offer secondary uses that fossil fuels do not provide. AMOPs pose a new set of technological challenges if they are to contribute as biofuel feedstocks.

Perturbation of the catalytic inorganic core (Mn4Ca1OxCly) of the photosystem II-water-oxidizing complex (PSII-WOC) isolated from spinach is examined by substitution of Ca2+ with cadmium(II) during core assembly. Cd2+ inhibits the yield of reconstitution of O-2-evolution activity, called photoactivation, starting from the free inorganic cofactors and the cofactor-depleted apo-WOC-PSII complex. Ca2+ affinity increases following photooxidation of the first Mn2+ to Mn3+ bound to the 'high-affinity' site. Ca2+ binding occurs in the dark and is the slowest overall step of photoactivation (IM1/IM*(1) -> step). Cd2+ competitively blocks the binding of Ca2+ to its functional site with 10-to 30-fold higher affinity, but does not influence the binding of Mn2+ to its high-affinity site. By contrast, even 10-fold higher concentrations of Cd2+ have no effect on O-2-evolution activity in intact PSII-WOC. Paradoxically, Cd2+ both inhibits photoactivation yield, while accelerating the rate of photoassembly of active centres 10-fold relative to Ca2+. Cd2+ increases the kinetic stability of the photooxidized Mn3+ assembly intermediate(s) by twofold (mean lifetime for dark decay). The rate data provide evidence that Cd2+ binding following photooxidation of the first Mn3+, IM1/IM*(1), causes three outcomes: (i) a longer intermediate lifetime that slows IM1 decay to IM0 by charge recombination, (ii) 10-fold higher probability of attaining the degrees of freedom (either or both cofactor and protein d.f.) needed to bind and photooxidize the remaining 3 Mn2+ that form the functional cluster, and (iii) increased lability of Cd2+ following Mn-4 cluster assembly results in (re) exchange of Cd2+ by Ca2+ which restores active O-2-evolving centres. Prior EPR spectroscopic data provide evidence for an oxo-bridged assembly intermediate, Mn3+ (mu-O2-) Ca2+, for IM*(1). We postulate an analogous inhibited intermediate with Cd2+ replacing Ca2+.

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Environmental and nutritional conditions that optimize the yield of hydrogen (H-2) from water using a two-step photosynthesis/ fermentation (P/F) process are reported for the hypercarbonate-requiring cyanobacterium "Arthrospira maxima." Our observations lead to four main conclusions broadly applicable to fermentative H-2 production by bacteria: (i) anaerobic H-2 production in the dark from whole cells catalyzed by a bidirectional [NiFe] hydrogenase is demonstrated to occur in two temporal phases involving two distinct metabolic processes that are linked to prior light-dependent production of NADPH (photosynthetic) and dark/anaerobic production of NADH (fermentative), respectively; (ii) H-2 evolution from these reductants represents a major pathway for energy production (ATP) during fermentation by regenerating NAD(+) essential for glycolysis of glycogen and catabolism of other substrates; (iii) nitrate removal during fermentative H-2 evolution is shown to produce an immediate and large stimulation of H-2, as nitrate is a competing substrate for consumption of NAD(P) H, which is distinct from its slower effect of stimulating glycogen accumulation; (iv) environmental and nutritional conditions that increase anaerobic ATP production, prior glycogen accumulation (in the light), and the intracellular reduction potential (NADH/NAD(+) ratio) are shown to be the key variables for elevating H-2 evolution. Optimization of these conditions and culture age increases the H-2 yield from a single P/F cycle using concentrated cells to 36 ml of H-2/g (dry weight) and a maximum 18% H-2 in the headspace. H-2 yield was found to be limited by the hydrogenase-mediated H-2 uptake reaction.