Closed-circuit bioelectrochemical operation is associated with a higher relative contribution of deterministic assembly and altered targeted functional-gene profiles in soil microbiomes
4 affiliations
- 1College of Biological Sciences and Technology, Taiyuan Normal University
- 2Soil Health Laboratory in Shanxi Province
- 3Shanxi Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology Security in Fenhe River Basin, Taiyuan Normal University
- 4Institute of Eco-environment and Industrial Technology, Shanxi Agricultural University
Abstract
Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are increasingly explored for soil remediation, yet the microbial ecological responses associated with conductive-material interfaces and closed-circuit operation remain incompletely understood. Using three experimental setups—a non-electrode anaerobic control (AT), an open-circuit conductive-material treatment (TO), and a closed-circuit treatment (TC)—we examined bacterial community composition, assembly processes, targeted functional-gene profiles, and exploratory co-occurrence patterns. The TO treatment showed a more highly connected exploratory network and slightly lower diversity within the targeted functional-gene panel than AT. The TC treatment showed a higher estimated relative contribution of deterministic processes than TO, although stochastic processes remained dominant in all treatments. TC was also characterized by several electroactive-associated taxa, including Geobacteraceae and Anaeromyxobacter , and by higher 16S-normalized relative abundances of several sulfur-cycling genes. These results suggest that the introduction of conductive materials and closed-circuit operation were associated with different bacterial community and targeted functional-gene responses. Because the TO–AT contrast includes both electrodes and carbon fibers, reactor-level replication was limited, and electrochemical output was not continuously quantified, the findings should be interpreted as exploratory associations rather than direct evidence of current-driven metabolic specialization. This study provides testable hypotheses for future bioelectrochemical soil-remediation experiments with greater reactor replication, electrochemical monitoring, and process-rate measurements.
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BibTeX
@article{zhao2026closedcircuit,
title = {{Closed-circuit bioelectrochemical operation is associated with a higher relative contribution of deterministic assembly and altered targeted functional-gene profiles in soil microbiomes}},
author = {Pengyu Zhao and Shuhui Zhang and Xiaodong Zhao},
journal = {Frontiers in Microbiology},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3389/fmicb.2026.1815770},
url = {https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2026.1815770/full},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Closed-circuit bioelectrochemical operation is associated with a higher relative contribution of deterministic assembly and altered targeted functional-gene profiles in soil microbiomes
AU - Pengyu Zhao
AU - Shuhui Zhang
AU - Xiaodong Zhao
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/09
JO - Frontiers in Microbiology
DO - 10.3389/fmicb.2026.1815770
UR - https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2026.1815770/full
AB - Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are increasingly explored for soil remediation, yet the microbial ecological responses associated with conductive-material interfaces and closed-circuit operation remain incompletely understood. Using three experimental setups—a non-electrode anaerobic control (AT), an open-circuit conductive-material treatment (TO), and a closed-circuit treatment (TC)—we examined bacterial community composition, assembly processes, targeted functional-gene profiles, and exploratory co-occurrence patterns. The TO treatment showed a more highly connected exploratory network and slightly lower diversity within the targeted functional-gene panel than AT. The TC treatment showed a higher estimated relative contribution of deterministic processes than TO, although stochastic processes remained dominant in all treatments. TC was also characterized by several electroactive-associated taxa, including Geobacteraceae and Anaeromyxobacter , and by higher 16S-normalized relative abundances of several sulfur-cycling genes. These results suggest that the introduction of conductive materials and closed-circuit operation were associated with different bacterial community and targeted functional-gene responses. Because the TO–AT contrast includes both electrodes and carbon fibers, reactor-level replication was limited, and electrochemical output was not continuously quantified, the findings should be interpreted as exploratory associations rather than direct evidence of current-driven metabolic specialization. This study provides testable hypotheses for future bioelectrochemical soil-remediation experiments with greater reactor replication, electrochemical monitoring, and process-rate measurements.
SN - 1664-302X
ER -