title: Extracellular electron transfer in yeast-based biofuel cells: A review.
abstract: This paper reviews the state-of-the art of the yeast-based biofuel cell research and development. The established extracellular electron transfer (EET) mechanisms in the presence and absence of exogenous mediators are summarized and discussed. The approaches applied for improvement of mediator-less yeast-based biofuel cells performance are also presented. The overview of the literature shows that biofuel cells utilizing yeasts as biocatalysts generate power density in the range of 20 to 2440 mW/m(2), which values are comparable with the power achieved when bacteria are used instead. The electrons' origin and the contribution of the glycolysis, fermentation, aerobic respiration, and phosphorylation to the EET are commented. The reported enhanced current generation in aerobic conditions presumes reconsideration of some basic MFC principles. The challenges towards the practical application of the yeast-based biofuel cells are outlined.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, "Paisii Hilendarski" University of Plovdiv, 24 Tzar Asen Str., 4000 Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Electronic address: jolinahubenova@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Yolina
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hubenova
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, South-West University "Neofit Rilski", 66 Ivan Mihajlov Str., 2700 Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria. Electronic address: mitovmario@mail.bg.
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mitov
mesh_terms: D001674:Bioelectric Energy Sources / Q000382:microbiology*; D004579:Electron Transport; D005110:Extracellular Space / Q000378:metabolism*; D015003:Yeasts / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism*
keywords: Electricity generation; Extracellular electron transfer; Mediators; Microbial fuel cells; Yeast