Chapter 18 - Computational Biology and Genomics Tools for Biohydrogen Research

Abstract

Biohydrogen is one of the clean fuels that has significant stake in the global fuel market. Traditionally, hydrogen gas is generated from fossil fuels through thermochemical processes. Alternatively, biological sources could be used to generate hydrogen gas. One of the key components in biohydrogen production is the selection of appropriate consortia to be used to produce hydrogen gas. Earlier studies have identified several organisms ranging from archaea to algae to be capable of producing hydrogen gas using organic and/or solar energy sources. However, screening the potential of existing microorganisms for biohydrogen production or investigating new microbes could help in the selection of better consortia for hydrogen gas production. Traditionally, the wet-lab experiments are used to screen the organisms for biohydrogen production but the conventional approach is costly and time-consuming whereas the advents of novel scientific methods provide alternatives to the conventional methods. Specifically, the genomic approaches have been utilized effectively in biological studies including biohydrogen research. Bioengineering is another approach through which the ability of organisms to produce hydrogen could be improved by manipulating the genomes of the organism. The genomic approaches have broad applications in several fields including bioengineering. Thus knowledge on genomics is timely required for researchers involved in biohydrogen research. This chapter discusses the scope of genomics in biohydrogen research. Also, the computational methodologies involved in genomics approach are briefly discussed in this chapter.