2-Bromoethanesulfonate degradation in bioelectrochemical systems.

2-Bromoethanesulfonate (BES) is the most reported chemical inhibitor for methanogenesis in laboratory-scale bioelectrochemical systems. However, there is doubt about BES's long-term effectiveness in microbial fuel cells (MFCs). We observed BES degradation in MFCs, whereas not in microbial electrolysis cells (MECs). Our results suggest that BES degradation is only possible under aerobic conditions (such as in MFCs) when some oxygen diffuses through the cathode. Experimental BES degradation was linked to the release of bromide (Br(-)) into the medium, with an average recovery of 67 ± 16%. Microbial analysis of the cathodic biomass distribution revealed the presence of Pseudomonas and Alcaligenes genera, which are able to use sulfonates as carbon or sulfur sources under aerobic conditions.

[1]  M. Uría-Nickelsen,et al.  Sulphonate utilization by enteric bacteria. , 1993, Journal of general microbiology.

[2]  Bruce E. Rittmann,et al.  Syntrophic interactions among anode respiring bacteria (ARB) and Non‐ARB in a biofilm anode: electron balances , 2009, Biotechnology and bioengineering.

[3]  B. Hoste,et al.  Azoarcus gen. nov., Nitrogen-Fixing Proteobacteria Associated with Roots of Kallar Grass (Leptochloa fusca (L.) Kunth), and Description of Two Species, Azoarcus indigens sp. nov. and Azoarcus communis sp. nov. , 1993 .

[4]  W. D. de Vos,et al.  Comparative Analysis of Pyrosequencing and a Phylogenetic Microarray for Exploring Microbial Community Structures in the Human Distal Intestine , 2009, PloS one.

[5]  Juan A. Baeza,et al.  Methanol opportunities for electricity and hydrogen production in bioelectrochemical systems , 2014 .

[6]  T. Thurnheer,et al.  Initial steps in the degradation of benzene sulfonic acid, 4-toluene sulfonic acids, and orthanilic acid in Alcaligenes sp. strain O-1 , 2004, Biodegradation.

[7]  M. Baev,et al.  Sulfate Reduction and Possible Aerobic Metabolism of the Sulfate-Reducing Bacterium Desulfovibrio oxyclinae in a Chemostat Coculture with Marinobacter sp. Strain MB under Exposure to Increasing Oxygen Concentrations , 2000, Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

[8]  M. Kertesz.  Desulfonation of aliphatic sulfonates by Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO. , 1996, FEMS microbiology letters.

[9]  E. Goldstein,et al.  Biochemical Differentiation and Comparison of Desulfovibrio Species and Other Phenotypically Similar Genera , 2005, Journal of Clinical Microbiology.

[10]  Juan A. Baeza,et al.  Revealing the proliferation of hydrogen scavengers in a single-chamber microbial electrolysis cell using electron balances , 2013 .

[11]  P. Parameswaran,et al.  Hydrogen consumption in microbial electrochemical systems (MXCs): the role of homo-acetogenic bacteria. , 2011, Bioresource technology.

[12]  D. Boone,et al.  Effects of several inhibitors on pure cultures of ruminal methanogens * , 2004, Journal of applied microbiology.

[13]  J. Ahmed,et al.  Effect of Cathodic Biofilm on the Performance of Air-Cathode Single Chamber Microbial Fuel Cells , 2011 .

[14]  Xiuzhu Dong,et al.  Proteiniphilum acetatigenes gen. nov., sp. nov., from a UASB reactor treating brewery wastewater. , 2005, International journal of systematic and evolutionary microbiology.

[15]  James R. Cole,et al.  The Ribosomal Database Project: improved alignments and new tools for rRNA analysis , 2008, Nucleic Acids Res..

[16]  C. Santoro,et al.  Cathodic and anodic biofilms in Single Chamber Microbial Fuel Cells. , 2013, Bioelectrochemistry.

[17]  Ralph S. Wolfe,et al.  Acetobacterium, a New Genus of Hydrogen-Oxidizing, Carbon Dioxide-Reducing, Anaerobic Bacteria , 1977 .

[18]  Kyu-Jung Chae,et al.  Selective inhibition of methanogens for the improvement of biohydrogen production in microbial electrolysis cells , 2010 .