Researchers accustomed biogas plant bacteria to carbon monoxide

Carbon monoxide (CO) is not only toxic to humans, but also to many microbes. Researchers in Vienna have conditioned bacteria operating in biogas plants to such an extent that they even feed on CO. These "Thermoanaerobacter kivui" microbes could thus utilize CO-containing synthesis gas from biomass to produce valuable building blocks for biofuels and chemical raw materials. The study was published in the journal "Nature Communications."

A natural evolutionary mechanism is responsible for this new trait, explain researchers led by Stefan Pflügl from the Institute of Chemical Engineering, Environmental Technology and Biotechnology at the Vienna University of Technology (TU Vienna) in a press release. A "large, jumping genetic element" (mega-transposon) was mobilized by the CO treatment. In the CO2-tolerant T. kivui microbes, it forms a ring separated from the rest of the genome. It contains genes important for energy metabolism, Pflügl explained in an interview with APA.

The researchers then activated these genes more strongly in T. kivui microbes that were not accustomed to CO. They used CRISPR/Cas gene editing to do this. The effect was comparable, reports Pflügl. Now, they can add or modify additional genes to enable the microbes to produce the most valuable products from carbon monoxide, as well as other synthesis gas components such as CO2 and hydrogen.

(SERVICE – Study: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-59103-8 )

APA