Systems biology approaches for microbial fuel cell applications

Microbial fuel cells are ecofriendly electrochemical devices that help to transform the chemical energy from the organic materials into electricity with the help of the catalytic activity of the microorganisms. Numerous reports are available in the literature to improve the bioelectricity generation in Microbial fuel cells. Currently, few reports are available on the use of molecular biology and genetic engineering approaches for improving the catalytic activity and electron transfer characteristics of the microorganisms. However, most of these approaches were made based on the reductionist approach and hence they could not drastically enhance the yield of microbial fuel cells. System biology approaches seems to be a promising option for enhancing the power output of microbial fuel cells. Herein, the applications of system biology approaches for screening the electrochemically active bacteria are discussed. The chapter also discusses about the use of system biology techniques for understanding the mechanisms of electron transfer from the microorganism to the electrode. The chapter also throws light on the novel metabolic approaches for enhancing the power output of microbial fuel cells. The advantages of systems biology approaches for MFC applications and the limitations of the conventional reductionist approaches are also discussed in detail.