Lin Su, Celine Wing See Yeung, Eliya Milshtein, Beverly Qian Ling Low, Yongpeng Liu, Ron Milo, Erwin Reisner
High Resolution Image Download MS PowerPoint Slide Integrated coupling of renewable energy sources with microbial CO 2 fixation remains a major challenge in carbon-neutral biomanufacturing. Here, a biohybrid design is presented that combines a semiartificial leaf for solar-powered conversion of CO 2 into formate with an autotrophic Escherichia coli ( E. coli ) that is engineered to use formate as an energy source to produce biomass. First, adaptive laboratory evolution was employed to enhance formate consumption and overcome slow autotrophic growth. Second, electrode-microbe compatibility was established, showing that the adapted strain can grow directly using formate electrochemically generated from CO 2 by an enzyme-modified cathode. Third, the electrical energy source was replaced with simulated sunlight, developing a biophotoelectrochemical device to support E. coli growth. Finally, an integrated platform consisting of a semiartificial leaf and autotrophic E. coli was designed, which couples solar CO 2 -to-biomass conversion and O 2 evolution, replicating natural photosynthesis.