The MicroH2 project:an association of four laboratories to improve theknowledge on biohydrogen production precesses

This poster presents a collaborative research project (MicroH2) held at the University of Liège (Belgium) since 2007 (www.microh2.ulg.ac.be) and involving four different research groups. The project aims to develop a center of excellence in the fields of photo- and dark- biohydrogen production. Our studies contribute to improve the knowledge of the processes involved in the microbiological production of hydrogen, from a fundamental and practical point of view. Some results are highlighted here.
The research concerning photofermentation focuses on the interactions between respiration, photosynthesis and H2-producing pathways in algal microorganisms, by using mitochondrial mutants and genetically modified strains with modified ability for hydrogen production [1-2].
To study the metabolism of the hydrogen production by anaerobic bacteria, pure cultures and defined consortia are used and their production of biogas and soluble metabolites is measured. Moreover, we have developed and optimized molecular tools, like quantitative RT-PCR and FISH, to monitor the variations of bacterial populations in novel bioreactors for hydrogen production [3-4]. We have also mined the complete genomes of Clostridium spp. for putative hydrogenase genes and found a large diversity of them [5].