Genetic approaches for improving performance of microbial fuel cells: Part b

Multiple microorganisms couple between fuel oxidation through extra cellular electron transfer to electron acceptors. Multiple genes and gene circuits are involved in these complex processes to regulate and enable them. Some were studied and are well understood while others are still not completely known. This chapter describes applications of genetic engineering in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) and tries to cover different aspects and engineering directions. Through electron transfer processes (external and internal), fuel processing, metabolic engineering, and enzyme engineering, we have demonstrated how nature has inspired genetic approaches to be used in MFCs. We have divided different approaches to external modifications for improvement of bacterial performance, genetic engineering of metabolic pathways, and genetic engineering of electron transfer pathways. We also discuss implications and practical considerations of these modifications.