When nature performs chemical reactions to create energy-rich compounds from simple molecules, it requires energy. So far, it has not been possible to use human-made electricity to drive these biochemical processes.
. The enzymatic cascade referred to as the"AAA cycle" consists of four biocatalysts. The first and main enzyme, aldehyde ferredoxin oxidoreductase , reduces an acid to an aldehyde.is stored in the aldehyde bond. The remaining three enzymes are responsible for the regeneration of the aldehyde. This process releases energy that is used to generate ATP,"explains Shanshan Luo, lead author of the study.
The researchers discovered the AOR in a scientifically still poorly known bacterium called Aromaticum aromatoleum. Researchers at the Center for Synthetic Microbiology at the University of Marburg were able to cultivate the microbe under oxygen-free lab conditions to study its ability to degrade petroleum in nature. Now this serendipitous discovery forms the core of the AAA cycle.
"It has never been possible to power ATP-dependent biochemical reactions with electricity. The AAA cycle is now able to directly convert electrical energy into biochemical energy," says Tobias Erb, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology."This will enable synthesis of energy-rich valuable resources such as starch, biofuels or proteins from simple cellular building blocks—in the future even from carbon dioxide.
"In the future, it may be possible for the AAA cycle to operate at the interface between electricity on the one hand and biology on the other. Feeding electricity directly into chemical and
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