TESTING ELECTRO-STIMULATION OF THERMOTOGA NEAPOLITANA METABOLISM

The possibility of electrostimulate the production of lactic acid by Thermotoga neapolitana settled on electrodes is investigated in this work. Three days experiment was conducted supplying an alternated electric energy in polarized and unpolarized bioreactors fed with 30mM of glucose. The solution Optical density decrease and documentation produced by scanning electron microscopy micrographs showed a strong affinity of bacteria to form biofilm both on the polarized and unpolarized electrodes. Evidence of the lactate/acetate ratio modification with respect the control bioreactors was achieved, both for polarized and unpolarized bioreactors. These results globally confirm the affinity of T. neapolitana to carbon cloth electrodes and the possibility of electrostimultate their metabolism, opening future perspectives on electro-fermentation with this hyperthermophilic strain.