Extracellular Electron Transfer in Photoautotrophs and Their Role in Electrogenic Activity

Anoxygenic phototrophic bacteria are diverse group of microorganisms, such as Chloroflexus, Rubrivivax, Rhodopseudomonas. These photoautotrophs are defined by their ability to grow using light with distinctive metabolic properties enabling them to extracellular electron transfer (EET) without producing oxygen as byproduct. The mechanisms of EET and their ability to obtain electrons from organic molecules or reduced compounds and transfer them to external acceptors such as iron, sulphur or any other oxidised compounds will be explored in this chapter. The key Molecular interactions and metabolic pathways that support electrogenic activity are discussed and additionally, their applications in bioelectrochemical technologies, bioremediation and wastewater treatment are discussed.