Hydrogen production pathways in Clostridia and their improvement by metabolic engineering

Biological production of hydrogen has a tremendous potential as an environmentally sustainable technology to generate a clean fuel. Among the different available methods to produce biohydrogen, dark fermentation features the highest productivity and can be used as a means to dispose of organic waste biomass. Within this approach, Clostridia have the highest theoretical H₂ production yield. Nonetheless, most strains show actual yields far lower than the theoretical maximum: improving their efficiency becomes necessary for achieving cost-effective fermentation processes. This review aims at providing a survey of the metabolic network involved in H₂ generation in Clostridia and strategies used to improve it through metabolic engineering. Together with current achievements, a number of future perspectives to implement these results will be illustrated.