Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A multimodal imaging approach for interrogating energy-conversion pathways in biohybrids

  • Research Briefing
  • Published:

From Nature Chemistry

View current issue Submit your manuscript

A multimodal imaging approach is developed to interrogate microorganism–semiconductor biohybrids at the single-cell and single-molecule level for light-driven CO2 fixation. Application to lithoautotrophic bacterium Ralstonia eutropha biohybrids reveals the roles of two hydrogenases in electron transport and bioplastic formation, the magnitude of semiconductor-to-single-cell electron transport and the associated pathways.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1: Single-cell multimodal imaging strategy for biohybrids.

References

  1. Kornienko, N., Zhang, J. Z., Sakimoto, K. K., Yang, P. & Reisner, E. Interfacing nature’s catalytic machinery with synthetic materials for semi-artificial photosynthesis. Nat. Nanotechnol. 13, 890–899 (2018). A review article that summarizes progress in enzymatic and microbial hybrids for solar-to-fuel conversion.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Sakimoto, K. K., Wong, A. B. & Yang, P. Self-photosensitization of nonphotosynthetic bacteria for solar-to-chemical production.Science 351, 74–77 (2016). This paper reports that nanoparticles can capture light to enable a non-photosynthetic bacterium to produce acetic acid from CO2.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Liu, C., Colón, B. C., Ziesack, M., Silver, P. A. & Nocera, D. G. Water splitting-biosynthetic system with CO2 reduction efficiencies exceeding photosynthesis. Science 352, 1210–1213 (2016). This paper reports that a biocompatible catalyst in an artificial photosynthesis system can lead to efficient solar-to-fuel conversion.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Fu, B. et al. Metal-induced sensor mobilization turns on affinity to activate regulator for metal detoxification in live bacteria. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 117, 13248–13255 (2020). This paper reports a single-molecule imaging study of a two-component regulatory system in bacteria.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. Sambur, J. B. et al. Sub-particle reaction and photocurrent mapping to optimize catalyst-modified photoanodes. Nature 530, 77–80 (2016). This paper reports single-molecule, super-resolution reaction imaging of photoelectrocatalysis on single semiconductor nanostructures.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This is a summary of: Fu, B. et al. Single-cell multimodal imaging uncovers energy conversion pathways in biohybrids Nat. Chem. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-023-01285-z (2023).

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

A multimodal imaging approach for interrogating energy-conversion pathways in biohybrids. Nat. Chem. 15, 1336–1337 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-023-01286-y

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-023-01286-y

  • Springer Nature Limited

Search

Navigation