Pizzanelli Silvia, Pitzalis Emanuela, Botticelli Simone, Machetti Fabrizio, Faraloni Cecilia, La Penna Giovanni
Institute of Chemistry of Organometallic Compounds, National Research Council, via Moruzzi 1, 56124, Pisa, Italy.
Department of Physics, University of Roma Tor Vergata, via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, 00133, Rome, Italy.
J Biol Inorg Chem. 2025 Apr;30(3):229-240. doi: 10.1007/s00775-025-02113-0. Epub 2025 Mar 24.
Unicellular algae can produce pure hydrogen gas from water and sun-light. We observed Chlorella vulgaris whole cells when they produce hydrogen using X-band continuous-wave electron spin resonance (ESR). Whole-cell spectroscopy is particularly useful in those cases where purified enzymes are sensitive to oxidant air conditions. By tuning cell preparation, the microwave power, the temperature, the time of air exposure, we could isolate from the background signal candidate markers of hydrogen production. Our observations indicate the presence of a species consistent mainly with an intermediate cluster when hydrogen production is high, but not maximal, and when FeS cluster oxidation has just begun. The optimal conditions to detect the above marker by ESR have been identified. Our investigation paves the way to extensive statistical analysis of cellular conditions in future studies using whole-cell ESR.
单细胞藻类可以利用水和阳光产生纯氢气。我们使用X波段连续波电子自旋共振（ESR）观察了普通小球藻全细胞产生氢气的过程。全细胞光谱学在纯化酶对氧化空气条件敏感的情况下特别有用。通过调整细胞制备、微波功率、温度、空气暴露时间，我们可以从背景信号中分离出氢气产生的候选标记物。我们的观察表明，当氢气产生量高但未达到最大值且FeS簇氧化刚刚开始时，存在一种主要与中间簇一致的物质。已经确定了通过ESR检测上述标记物的最佳条件。我们的研究为未来使用全细胞ESR的研究中对细胞条件进行广泛的统计分析铺平了道路。
