Bio-electrochemical property and phylogenetic diversity of microbial communities associated with bioelectrodes of an electromethanogenic reactor

Electromethanogenesis is a new bio-electrochemical reaction potentially useful for energy conversion. As a first step toward its technical application, electromethanogenic reactors were built, and their bio-electrochemical properties were analyzed. Comparisons of the microbial compositions of the electromethanogenic cathode and the current-producing anode suggested an electromethanogenic pathway mediated by exoelectrogenic bacteria.