Harnessing fungal bio-electricity: a promising path to a cleaner environment

Aisha Umar; Mustansar Mubeen; Iftikhar Ali; Yasir Iftikhar; Muhammad Aamir Sohail; Ashara Sajid; Ajay Kumar; Manoj Kumar Solanki; Praveen Kumar Divvela; Lei Zhou

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2023.1291904

Harnessing fungal bio-electricity: a promising path to a cleaner environment

Front Microbiol. 2024 Jan 30:14:1291904. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1291904. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Aisha Umar^#^{1

2}, Mustansar Mubeen^#³, Iftikhar Ali⁴, Yasir Iftikhar³, Muhammad Aamir Sohail⁵, Ashara Sajid³, Ajay Kumar⁶, Manoj Kumar Solanki^{7

8}, Praveen Kumar Divvela⁹, Lei Zhou¹

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agro-products, Institute of Agro-Product Safety and Nutrition, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou, China.
² Institute of Botany, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan.
³ Department of Plant Pathology, College of Agriculture, University of Sargodha, Sargodha, Pakistan.
⁴ Department of Genetics and Development, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, United States.
⁵ National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics, Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
⁶ Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India.
⁷ Department of Life Sciences and Biological Sciences, IES University, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India.
⁸ Plant Cytogenetics and Molecular Biology Group, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Institute of Biology, Biotechnology and Environmental Protection, University of Silesia in Katowice, Katowice, Poland.
⁹ Contec Global Agro Limited, Abuja, Nigeria.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Integrating fungi into fuel cell systems presents a promising opportunity to address environmental pollution while simultaneously generating energy. This review explores the innovative concept of constructing wetlands as fuel cells for pollutant degradation, offering a practical and eco-friendly solution to pollution challenges. Fungi possess unique capabilities in producing power, fuel, and electricity through metabolic processes, drawing significant interest for applications in remediation and degradation. Limited data exist on fungi's ability to generate electricity during catalytic reactions involving various enzymes, especially while remediating pollutants. Certain species, such as Trametes versicolor, Ganoderma lucidum, Galactomyces reessii, Aspergillus spp., Kluyveromyce smarxianus, and Hansenula anomala, have been reported to generate electricity at 1200 mW/m³, 207 mW/m², 1,163 mW/m³, 438 mW/m³, 850,000 mW/m³, and 2,900 mW/m³, respectively. Despite the eco-friendly potential compared to conventional methods, fungi's role remains largely unexplored. This review delves into fungi's exceptional potential as fuel cell catalysts, serving as anodic or cathodic agents to mitigate land, air, and water pollutants while simultaneously producing fuel and power. Applications cover a wide range of tasks, and the innovative concept of wetlands designed as fuel cells for pollutant degradation is discussed. Cost-effectiveness may vary depending on specific contexts and applications. Fungal fuel cells (FFCs) offer a versatile and innovative solution to global challenges, addressing the increasing demand for alternative bioenergy production amid population growth and expanding industrial activities. The mechanistic approach of fungal enzymes via microbial combinations and electrochemical fungal systems facilitates the oxidation of organic substrates, oxygen reduction, and ion exchange membrane orchestration of essential reactions. Fungal laccase plays a crucial role in pollutant removal and monitoring environmental contaminants. Fungal consortiums show remarkable potential in fine-tuning FFC performance, impacting both power generation and pollutant degradation. Beyond energy generation, fungal cells effectively remove pollutants. Overall, FFCs present a promising avenue to address energy needs and mitigate pollutants simultaneously.

Keywords: catalyst; electricity; environment; fuel; fungi; heavy metals; soil.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was supported by the high-talent introduction and continuous training fund to LZ (Grant No: 10300000021LL05) and State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agro-products (Grant No. 2021DG700024-KF202312).