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Development of a bioelectrochemical system touncouple and interrogate H2-syntrophic partners in the human gut microbiota

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Esquivel Elizondo,  S       
Department Microbiome Science, Max Planck Institute for Biology Tübingen, Max Planck Society;

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Ley,  RE       
Department Microbiome Science, Max Planck Institute for Biology Tübingen, Max Planck Society;

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Citation

Biehain, U., Angenent, L., Esquivel Elizondo, S., Ley, R., Rohbohm, N., Sun, T., et al. (2023). Development of a bioelectrochemical system touncouple and interrogate H2-syntrophic partners in the human gut microbiota. Poster presented at Annual Conference of the Association for General and Applied Microbiology (VAAM 2023), Göttingen, Germany.


Cite as: https://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-000D-D556-2
Abstract
Introduction: The fermentation of carbohydrates is one of the primary functions of the gut microbiome, which results in the production of short-chain carboxylic acids and gasses such as hydrogen (H2) and carbon dioxide (CO2). Fermentative H2 production and interspecies H2 transfer predominantly drive colonic H2 metabolism rather than respiration (Waters & Ley, 2019). Accumulating H2 disrupts gut function, harms humans, and needs to be prevented. However, H2 is an important energy source for gut microbes, such as sulfate- reducing bacteria, acetogens, and methanogens. Very little is understood about the H2 economy of the human gut; therefore, interspecies H2 transfer and microbial syntrophy have become increasingly important to fill one gap in understanding the entire human gut microbiome. The family Christensenellaceae are heritable members of the human gut and are associated with human health. Christensenella minuta is a highly prevalent, heritable, health-associated bacterium that cross-feeds H2 to the methanogen Methanobrevibacter smithii. In continuous co-culture, C. minuta produces the least butyrate when M. smithii is abundant. Due to thermodynamic limitations, H2 accumulation predicts a microbial syntrophy in which carbohydrate degradation can only occur when a microbial partner consumes H2 simultaneously (Ruaud et al., 2020). Objective: Development of the bioelectrochemical system (BES) and proof of concept of H2 removal with C. minuta Materials & Methods: We developed a BES for this investigation, mimicking a syntrophic microbial partner that takes up H2. The BES includes a Platinum-doped carbon anode (Pt/C) and a close interaction site of microbes with the anode where H2 is actively removed by oxidation. Thus, it provides an environment favored by H2-producing, carbohydrate-degrading bacteria. For a proof-of-concept, C. minuta as an H2-producing microbe was used. Results: We found a shift of the fermentation products of C. minuta towards more acetate and less butyrate under conditions when the BES removed H2. Furthermore, we found that C. minuta attached to the Pt/C anode and formed a biofilm by scanning electron microscopy. Conclusion: The outcomes of this study are essential to developing an isolation approach for gut microbes without requiring a microbial (syntrophic) partner. Culturing C. minuta in the BES will help further technical BES development and support our ultimate goal of understanding human gut microbes better.