Geobacter sulfurreducens is considered to be a leading candidate for use in microbial fuel cells (MFC). Geobacter clearly outperforms organisms such as Shewanella and Rhodopherax in growth characteristics and the ability to produce electric current. However, Geobacter-based microbial fuel cells still do not produce sufficient powder densities for practical applications.
UMass microbiologist Derek Lovley and his colleagues have developed a novel Geobacter strain "Neo" that has been specifically adapted to a fuel cell environment. By maintaining a high selection pressure in the microbes' environment, the original wild type strain was coerced to adapt by developing new characteristics appropriate for commercial MFC operation, including a 600% increase in current production.
