Redox and Energy Homeostasis Enabled by Photocatalytic Material–Microbial Interfaces

Material–microbial interfaces offer a promising
future in
sustainable and efficient chemical–energy conversions, yet
the impacts of these artificial interfaces on microbial metabolisms
remain unclear. Here, we conducted detailed proteomic and metabolomic
analyses to study the regulations of microbial metabolism induced
by the photocatalytic material–microbial interfaces, especially
the intracellular redox and energy homeostasis, which are vital for
sustaining cell activity. First, we learned that the materials have
a heavier weight in perturbing microbial metabolism and inducing distinctive
biological pathways, like the expression of the metal-resisting system,
than light stimulations. Furthermore, we observed that the materials–microbe
interfaces can maintain the delicate redox balance and the energetic
status of the microbial cells since the intracellular redox cofactors
and energy currencies show stable levels as naturally inoculated microbes.
These observations ensure the possibility of energizing microbial
activities with artificial materials–microbe interfaces for
diverse applications and also provide guides for future designs of
materials–microbe hybrids to guard microbial activities.