초록
<P>Microbial electrosynthesis (MES) systems with mixed cultures often generate a variety of gaseous and soluble chemicals. Methane is the primary end product in mixed-culture MES because it is the thermodynamically most favorable reduction product of CO<SUB>2</SUB>. Here, we show that the peptaibol alamethicin selectively suppressed the growth of methanogens in mixed-culture MES systems, resulting in a shift of the solution and cathode communities to an acetate-producing system dominated by <I>Sporomusa</I>, a known acetogenic genus in MES systems. <I>Archaea</I> in the methane-producing control were dominated by <I>Methanobrevibacter</I> species, but no <I>Archaea</I> were detected in the alamethicin-treated reactors. No methane was detected in the mixed-culture reactors treated with alamethicin over 10 cycles (∼3 days each). Instead, acetate was produced at an average rate of 115 nmol ml<SUP>−1</SUP> day<SUP>−1</SUP>, similar to the rate reported previously for pure cultures of <I>Sporomusa ovata</I> on biocathodes. Mixed-culture control reactors without alamethicin generated methane at nearly 100% coulombic recovery, and no acetate was detected. These results show that alamethicin is effective for the suppression of methanogen growth in MES systems and that its use enables the production of industrially relevant organic compounds by the inhibition of methanogenesis.</P>