When bacteria are used to reduce industrial CO2 emissions via biological gas conversion, the presence of carbon monoxide (CO) causes problems because it is toxic to nearly all organisms. In this video, OLIVIER LEMAIRE explains how a subgroup of acetogenic bacteria directly uses CO to produce acetate. Lemaire analyzes Clostridium autoethanogenum and identifies two key proteins, (CO dehydrogenase and acetyl-CoA synthase) that operate in tandem to enable CO conversion and acetate production. In fact, the organism’s metabolism is shown to be organized around this key process: CO consumption by CO dehydrogenase. Enhanced understanding of these processes will allow us to enhance methods already applied for greenhouse gas reduction but also for green energy production.

LT Video Publication DOI: https://doi.org/10.21036/LTPUB10948





Original publication:
Olivier N. Lemaire and Tristan Wagner (2021): Gas Channel Rerouting in a Primordial Enzyme: Structural Insights of the Carbon-Monoxide Dehydrogenase/Acetyl-CoA Synthase Complex from the Acetogen Clostridium Autoethanogenum. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA)-Bioenergetics.