Metabolic response of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Geobacter sulfurreducens</Emphasis> towards electron donor/acceptor variation

Background  

Geobacter sulfurreducens is capable of coupling the complete oxidation of organic compounds to iron reduction. The metabolic response of G. sulfurreducens towards variations in electron donors (acetate, hydrogen) and acceptors (Fe(III), fumarate) was investigated via ¹³C-based metabolic flux analysis. We examined the ¹³C-labeling patterns of proteinogenic amino acids obtained from G. sulfurreducens cultured with ¹³C-acetate.     

Metabolic Efficiency of Geobacter sulfurreducens Growing on Anodes with Different Redox Potentials

Microorganisms respiring Fe(III) in the environment face a range of redox potentials of the prospective terminal ferric electron acceptors, because Fe(III) can be present in different minerals or organic complexes. We investigated the adaptation of Geobacter sulfurreducens to this range by exposing the bacteria to different redox potentials between the electron donor acetate and solid, extracellular anodes in a microbial fuel-cell set-up. Over a range of anode potentials from ?0.105 to +0.645 V versus standard hydrogen electrode, G. sulfurreducens produced identical amounts of biomass per electron respired. This indicated that the organism cannot utilize higher available energies for energy conservation to ATP, and confirmed recent studies. Either the high potentials cannot be used due to physiological limitations, or G. sulfurreducens decreased its metabolic efficiency, and less biomass per unit of energy was produced. In this case, G. sulfurreducens “wasted” energy at high-potential differences, most likely as heat to fuel growth kinetics.     

A Periplasmic and Extracellular c-Type Cytochrome of Geobacter sulfurreducens Acts as a Ferric Iron Reductase and as an Electron Carrier to Other Acceptors or to Partner Bacteria

An extracellular electron carrier excreted into the growth medium by cells of Geobacter sulfurreducens was identified as a c-type cytochrome. The cytochrome was found to be distributed in about equal amounts in the membrane fraction, the periplasmic space, and the surrounding medium during all phases of growth with acetate plus fumarate. It was isolated from periplasmic preparations and purified to homogeneity by cation-exchange chromatography, gel filtration, and hydrophobic interaction chromatography. The electrophoretically homogeneous cytochrome had a molecular mass of 9.57 ± 0.02 kDa and exhibited in its reduced state absorption maxima at wavelengths of 552, 522, and 419 nm. The midpoint redox potential determined by redox titration was −0.167 V. With respect to molecular mass, redox properties, and molecular features, this cytochrome exhibited its highest similarity to the cytochromes c of Desulfovibrio salexigens and Desulfuromonas acetoxidans. The G. sulfurreducens cytochrome c reduced ferrihydrite (Fe(OH)₃), Fe(III) nitrilotriacetic acid, Fe(III) citrate, and manganese dioxide at high rates. Elemental sulfur, anthraquinone disulfonate, and humic acids were reduced more slowly. G. sulfurreducens reduced the cytochrome with acetate as an electron donor and oxidized it with fumarate. Wolinella succinogenes was able to reduce externally provided cytochrome c of G. sulfurreducens with molecular hydrogen or formate as an electron donor and oxidized it with fumarate or nitrate as an electron acceptor. A coculture could be established in which G. sulfurreducens reduced the cytochrome with acetate, and the reduced cytochrome was reoxidized by W. succinogenes in the presence of nitrate. We conclude that this cytochrome can act as iron(III) reductase for electron transfer to insoluble iron hydroxides or to sulfur, manganese dioxide, or other oxidized compounds, and it can transfer electrons to partner bacteria.     

Characterization of Metabolism in the Fe(III)-Reducing Organism Geobacter sulfurreducens by Constraint-Based Modeling

Geobacter sulfurreducens is a well-studied representative of the Geobacteraceae, which play a critical role in organic matter oxidation coupled to Fe(III) reduction, bioremediation of groundwater contaminated with organics or metals, and electricity production from waste organic matter. In order to investigate G. sulfurreducens central metabolism and electron transport, a metabolic model which integrated genome-based predictions with available genetic and physiological data was developed via the constraint-based modeling approach. Evaluation of the rates of proton production and consumption in the extracellular and cytoplasmic compartments revealed that energy conservation with extracellular electron acceptors, such as Fe(III), was limited relative to that associated with intracellular acceptors. This limitation was attributed to lack of cytoplasmic proton consumption during reduction of extracellular electron acceptors. Model-based analysis of the metabolic cost of producing an extracellular electron shuttle to promote electron transfer to insoluble Fe(III) oxides demonstrated why Geobacter species, which do not produce shuttles, have an energetic advantage over shuttle-producing Fe(III) reducers in subsurface environments. In silico analysis also revealed that the metabolic network of G. sulfurreducens could synthesize amino acids more efficiently than that of Escherichia coli due to the presence of a pyruvate-ferredoxin oxidoreductase, which catalyzes synthesis of pyruvate from acetate and carbon dioxide in a single step. In silico phenotypic analysis of deletion mutants demonstrated the capability of the model to explore the flexibility of G. sulfurreducens central metabolism and correctly predict mutant phenotypes. These results demonstrate that iterative modeling coupled with experimentation can accelerate the understanding of the physiology of poorly studied but environmentally relevant organisms and may help optimize their practical applications.     

Growth of Geobacter sulfurreducens with Acetate in Syntrophic Cooperation with Hydrogen-Oxidizing Anaerobic Partners

Pure cultures of Geobacter sulfurreducens and other Fe(III)-reducing bacteria accumulated hydrogen to partial pressures of 5 to 70 Pa with acetate, butyrate, benzoate, ethanol, lactate, or glucose as the electron donor if electron release to an acceptor was limiting. G. sulfurreducens coupled acetate oxidation with electron transfer to an anaerobic partner bacterium in the absence of ferric iron or other electron acceptors. Cocultures of G. sulfurreducens and Wolinella succinogenes with nitrate as the electron acceptor degraded acetate efficiently and grew with doubling times of 6 to 8 h. The hydrogen partial pressures in these acetate-degrading cocultures were considerably lower, in the range of 0.02 to 0.04 Pa. From these values and the concentrations of the other reactants, it was calculated that in this cooperation the free energy change available to G. sulfurreducens should be about −53 kJ per mol of acetate oxidized, assuming complete conversion of acetate to CO₂ and H₂. However, growth yields (18.5 g of dry mass per mol of acetate for the coculture, about 14 g for G. sulfurreducens) indicated considerably higher energy gains. These yield data, measurement of hydrogen production rates, and calculation of the diffusive hydrogen flux indicated that electron transfer in these cocultures may not proceed exclusively via interspecies hydrogen transfer but may also proceed through an alternative carrier system with higher redox potential, e.g., a c-type cytochrome that was found to be excreted by G. sulfurreducens into the culture fluid. Syntrophic acetate degradation was also possible with G. sulfurreducens and Desulfovibrio desulfuricans CSN but only with nitrate as electron acceptor. These cultures produced cell yields of 4.5 g of dry mass per mol of acetate, to which both partners contributed at about equal rates. These results demonstrate that some Fe(III)-reducing bacteria can oxidize organic compounds under Fe(III) limitation with the production of hydrogen, and they provide the first example of rapid acetate oxidation via interspecies electron transfer at moderate temperature.     

Comparative proteomics of Geobacter sulfurreducens PCAT in response to acetate,formate and/or hydrogen as electron donor

Geobacter sulfurreducens is a model bacterium to study the degradation of organic compounds coupled to the reduction of Fe(III). The response of G. sulfurreducens to the electron donors acetate, formate, hydrogen and a mixture of all three with Fe(III) citrate as electron acceptor was studied using comparative physiological and proteomic approaches. Variations in the supplied electron donors resulted in differential abundance of proteins involved in the citric acid cycle (CAC), gluconeogenesis, electron transport, and hydrogenases and formate dehydrogenase. Our results provided new insights into the electron donor metabolism of G. sulfurreducens. Remarkably, formate was the preferred electron donor compared to acetate, hydrogen, or acetate plus hydrogen. When hydrogen was the electron donor, formate was formed, which was associated with a high abundance of formate dehydrogenase. Notably, abundant proteins of two CO₂ fixation pathways (acetyl-CoA pathway and the reversed oxidative CAC) corroborated chemolithoautotrophic growth of G. sulfurreducens with formate or hydrogen and CO₂, and provided novel insight into chemolithoautotrophic growth of G. sulfurreducens.     

Role of the NiFe hydrogenase Hya in oxidative stress defense in Geobacter sulfurreducens

Geobacter sulfurreducens, an Fe(III)-reducing deltaproteobacterium found in anoxic subsurface environments, contains 4 NiFe hydrogenases. Hyb, a periplasmically oriented membrane-bound NiFe hydrogenase, is essential for hydrogen-dependent growth. The functions of the three other hydrogenases are unknown. We show here that the other periplasmically oriented membrane-bound NiFe hydrogenase, Hya, is necessary for growth after exposure to oxidative stress when hydrogen or a highly limiting concentration of acetate is the electron source. The beneficial impact of Hya on growth was dependent on the presence of H(2) in the atmosphere. Moreover, the Hya-deficient strain was more sensitive to the presence of superoxide or hydrogen peroxide. Hya was also required to safeguard Hyb hydrogen oxidation activity after exposure to O(2). Overexpression studies demonstrated that Hya was more resistant to oxidative stress than Hyb. Overexpression of Hya also resulted in the creation of a recombinant strain better fitted for exposure to oxidative stress than wild-type G. sulfurreducens. These results demonstrate that one of the physiological roles of the O(2)-resistant Hya is to participate in the oxidative stress defense of G. sulfurreducens.     

Uranium(VI) Reduction by Anaeromyxobacter dehalogenans Strain 2CP-C

Previous studies demonstrated growth of Anaeromyxobacter dehalogenans strain 2CP-C with acetate or hydrogen as the electron donor and Fe(III), nitrate, nitrite, fumarate, oxygen, or ortho-substituted halophenols as electron acceptors. In this study, we explored and characterized U(VI) reduction by strain 2CP-C. Cell suspensions of fumarate-grown 2CP-C cells reduced U(VI) to U(IV). More-detailed growth studies demonstrated that hydrogen was the required electron donor for U(VI) reduction and could not be replaced by acetate. The addition of nitrate to U(VI)-reducing cultures resulted in a transitory increase in U(VI) concentration, apparently caused by the reoxidation of reduced U(IV), but U(VI) reduction resumed following the consumption of N-oxyanions. Inhibition of U(VI) reduction occurred in cultures amended with Fe(III) citrate, or citrate. In the presence of amorphous Fe(III) oxide, U(VI) reduction proceeded to completion but the U(VI) reduction rates decreased threefold compared to control cultures. Fumarate and 2-chlorophenol had no inhibitory effects on U(VI) reduction, and both electron acceptors were consumed concomitantly with U(VI). Since cocontaminants (e.g., nitrate, halogenated compounds) and bioavailable ferric iron are often encountered at uranium-impacted sites, the metabolic versatility makes Anaeromyxobacter dehalogenans a promising model organism for studying the complex interaction of multiple electron acceptors in U(VI) reduction and immobilization.     

Unsaturated Organic Acids as Terminal Electron Acceptors for Reductase Chains of Anaerobic Bacteria

This paper summarizes the current knowledge of unsaturated organic acids in their role as terminal electron acceptors for reductase chains of anaerobic bacteria. The mechanisms and enzyme systems involved in the reduction of fumarate by Escherichia coli, Wolinella succinogenes, and some species of the genus Shewanella are considered. Particular attention is given to reduction of the double bond of the unnatural compound methacrylate by the δ-proteobacterium Geobacter sulfurreducens AM-1. Soluble periplasmic flavocytochromes c, found in bacteria of the genera Shewanella and Geobacter, are involved in the hydrogenation of fumarate (in Shewanella species) and methacrylate (in G. sulfurreducens AM-1). In E. coli and W. succinogenes, fumarate is reduced in cytosol by membrane-bound fumarate reductases. The prospects for research into organic acid reduction at double bonds in bacteria are discussed.     

Lack of Electricity Production by Pelobacter carbinolicus Indicates that the Capacity for Fe(III) Oxide Reduction Does Not Necessarily Confer Electron Transfer Ability to Fuel Cell Anodes

The ability of Pelobacter carbinolicus to oxidize electron donors with electron transfer to the anodes of microbial fuel cells was evaluated because microorganisms closely related to Pelobacter species are generally abundant on the anodes of microbial fuel cells harvesting electricity from aquatic sediments. P. carbinolicus could not produce current in a microbial fuel cell with electron donors which support Fe(III) oxide reduction by this organism. Current was produced using a coculture of P. carbinolicus and Geobacter sulfurreducens with ethanol as the fuel. Ethanol consumption was associated with the transitory accumulation of acetate and hydrogen. G. sulfurreducens alone could not metabolize ethanol, suggesting that P. carbinolicus grew in the fuel cell by converting ethanol to hydrogen and acetate, which G. sulfurreducens oxidized with electron transfer to the anode. Up to 83% of the electrons available in ethanol were recovered as electricity and in the metabolic intermediate acetate. Hydrogen consumption by G. sulfurreducens was important for ethanol metabolism by P. carbinolicus. Confocal microscopy and analysis of 16S rRNA genes revealed that half of the cells growing on the anode surface were P. carbinolicus, but there was a nearly equal number of planktonic cells of P. carbinolicus. In contrast, G. sulfurreducens was primarily attached to the anode. P. carbinolicus represents the first Fe(III) oxide-reducing microorganism found to be unable to produce current in a microbial fuel cell, providing the first suggestion that the mechanisms for extracellular electron transfer to Fe(III) oxides and fuel cell anodes may be different.     

Scarless Genome Editing and Stable Inducible Expression Vectors for Geobacter sulfurreducens

Metal reduction by members of the Geobacteraceae is encoded by multiple gene clusters, and the study of extracellular electron transfer often requires biofilm development on surfaces. Genetic tools that utilize polar antibiotic cassette insertions limit mutant construction and complementation. In addition, unstable plasmids create metabolic burdens that slow growth, and the presence of antibiotics such as kanamycin can interfere with the rate and extent of Geobacter biofilm growth. We report here genetic system improvements for the model anaerobic metal-reducing bacterium Geobacter sulfurreducens. A motile strain of G. sulfurreducens was constructed by precise removal of a transposon interrupting the fgrM flagellar regulator gene using SacB/sucrose counterselection, and Fe(III) citrate reduction was eliminated by deletion of the gene encoding the inner membrane cytochrome imcH. We also show that RK2-based plasmids were maintained in G. sulfurreducens for over 15 generations in the absence of antibiotic selection in contrast to unstable pBBR1 plasmids. Therefore, we engineered a series of new RK2 vectors containing native constitutive Geobacter promoters, and modified one of these promoters for VanR-dependent induction by the small aromatic carboxylic acid vanillate. Inducible plasmids fully complemented ΔimcH mutants for Fe(III) reduction, Mn(IV) oxide reduction, and growth on poised electrodes. A real-time, high-throughput Fe(III) citrate reduction assay is described that can screen numerous G. sulfurreducens strain constructs simultaneously and shows the sensitivity of imcH expression by the vanillate system. These tools will enable more sophisticated genetic studies in G. sulfurreducens without polar insertion effects or need for multiple antibiotics.     

Going Wireless: Fe(III) Oxide Reduction without Pili by Geobacter sulfurreducens Strain JS-1

Previous studies have suggested that the conductive pili of Geobacter sulfurreducens are essential for extracellular electron transfer to Fe(III) oxides and for optimal long-range electron transport through current-producing biofilms. The KN400 strain of G. sulfurreducens reduces poorly crystalline Fe(III) oxide more rapidly than the more extensively studied DL-1 strain. Deletion of the gene encoding PilA, the structural pilin protein, in strain KN400 inhibited Fe(III) oxide reduction. However, low rates of Fe(III) reduction were detected after extended incubation (>30 days) in the presence of Fe(III) oxide. After seven consecutive transfers, the PilA-deficient strain adapted to reduce Fe(III) oxide as fast as the wild type. Microarray, whole-genome resequencing, proteomic, and gene deletion studies indicated that this adaptation was associated with the production of larger amounts of the c-type cytochrome PgcA, which was released into the culture medium. It is proposed that the extracellular cytochrome acts as an electron shuttle, promoting electron transfer from the outer cell surface to Fe(III) oxides. The adapted PilA-deficient strain competed well with the wild-type strain when both were grown together on Fe(III) oxide. However, when 50% of the culture medium was replaced with fresh medium every 3 days, the wild-type strain outcompeted the adapted strain. A possible explanation for this is that the necessity to produce additional PgcA, to replace the PgcA being continually removed, put the adapted strain at a competitive disadvantage, similar to the apparent selection against electron shuttle-producing Fe(III) reducers in many anaerobic soils and sediments. Despite increased extracellular cytochrome production, the adapted PilA-deficient strain produced low levels of current, consistent with the concept that long-range electron transport through G. sulfurreducens biofilms is more effective via pili.     

Effect of gonococcal lipooligosaccharide variation on human monocytic cytokine profile

Background

In order to study the mechanism of U(VI) reduction, the effect of deleting c-type cytochrome genes on the capacity of Geobacter sulfurreducens to reduce U(VI) with acetate serving as the electron donor was investigated.

Results

The ability of several c-type cytochrome deficient mutants to reduce U(VI) was lower than that of the wild type strain. Elimination of two confirmed outer membrane cytochromes and two putative outer membrane cytochromes significantly decreased (ca. 50–60%) the ability of G. sulfurreducens to reduce U(VI). Involvement in U(VI) reduction did not appear to be a general property of outer membrane cytochromes, as elimination of two other confirmed outer membrane cytochromes, OmcB and OmcC, had very little impact on U(VI) reduction. Among the periplasmic cytochromes, only MacA, proposed to transfer electrons from the inner membrane to the periplasm, appeared to play a significant role in U(VI) reduction. A subpopulation of both wild type and U(VI) reduction-impaired cells, 24–30%, accumulated amorphous uranium in the periplasm. Comparison of uranium-accumulating cells demonstrated a similar amount of periplasmic uranium accumulation in U(VI) reduction-impaired and wild type G. sulfurreducens. Assessment of the ability of the various suspensions to reduce Fe(III) revealed no correlation between the impact of cytochrome deletion on U(VI) reduction and reduction of Fe(III) hydroxide and chelated Fe(III).

Conclusion

This study indicates that c-type cytochromes are involved in U(VI) reduction by Geobacter sulfurreducens. The data provide new evidence for extracellular uranium reduction by G. sulfurreducens but do not rule out the possibility of periplasmic uranium reduction. Occurrence of U(VI) reduction at the cell surface is supported by the significant impact of elimination of outer membrane cytochromes on U(VI) reduction and the lack of correlation between periplasmic uranium accumulation and the capacity for uranium reduction. Periplasmic uranium accumulation may reflect the ability of uranium to penetrate the outer membrane rather than the occurrence of enzymatic U(VI) reduction. Elimination of cytochromes rarely had a similar impact on both Fe(III) and U(VI) reduction, suggesting that there are differences in the routes of electron transfer to U(VI) and Fe(III). Further studies are required to clarify the pathways leading to U(VI) reduction in G. sulfurreducens.     

A Geobacter sulfurreducens Strain Expressing Pseudomonas aeruginosa Type IV Pili Localizes OmcS on Pili but Is Deficient in Fe(III) Oxide Reduction and Current Production

The conductive pili of Geobacter species play an important role in electron transfer to Fe(III) oxides, in long-range electron transport through current-producing biofilms, and in direct interspecies electron transfer. Although multiple lines of evidence have indicated that the pili of Geobacter sulfurreducens have a metal-like conductivity, independent of the presence of c-type cytochromes, this claim is still controversial. In order to further investigate this phenomenon, a strain of G. sulfurreducens, designated strain PA, was constructed in which the gene for the native PilA, the structural pilin protein, was replaced with the PilA gene of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1. Strain PA expressed and properly assembled P. aeruginosa PilA subunits into pili and exhibited a profile of outer surface c-type cytochromes similar to that of a control strain expressing the G. sulfurreducens PilA. Surprisingly, the strain PA pili were decorated with the c-type cytochrome OmcS in a manner similar to the control strain. However, the strain PA pili were 14-fold less conductive than the pili of the control strain, and strain PA was severely impaired in Fe(III) oxide reduction and current production. These results demonstrate that the presence of OmcS on pili is not sufficient to confer conductivity to pili and suggest that there are unique structural features of the G. sulfurreducens PilA that are necessary for conductivity.     

Constraint-Based Modeling of Carbon Fixation and the Energetics of Electron Transfer in Geobacter metallireducens

Geobacter species are of great interest for environmental and biotechnology applications as they can carry out direct electron transfer to insoluble metals or other microorganisms and have the ability to assimilate inorganic carbon. Here, we report on the capability and key enabling metabolic machinery of Geobacter metallireducens GS-15 to carry out CO₂ fixation and direct electron transfer to iron. An updated metabolic reconstruction was generated, growth screens on targeted conditions of interest were performed, and constraint-based analysis was utilized to characterize and evaluate critical pathways and reactions in G. metallireducens. The novel capability of G. metallireducens to grow autotrophically with formate and Fe(III) was predicted and subsequently validated in vivo. Additionally, the energetic cost of transferring electrons to an external electron acceptor was determined through analysis of growth experiments carried out using three different electron acceptors (Fe(III), nitrate, and fumarate) by systematically isolating and examining different parts of the electron transport chain. The updated reconstruction will serve as a knowledgebase for understanding and engineering Geobacter and similar species.     

A Hydrogen-Oxidizing, Fe(III)-Reducing Microorganism from the Great Bay Estuary, New Hampshire

A dissimilatory Fe(III)- and Mn(IV)-reducing bacterium was isolated from bottom sediments of the Great Bay estuary, New Hampshire. The isolate was a facultatively anaerobic gram-negative rod which did not appear to fit into any previously described genus. It was temporarily designated strain BrY. BrY grew anaerobically in a defined medium with hydrogen or lactate as the electron donor and Fe(III) as the electron acceptor. BrY required citrate, fumarate, or malate as a carbon source for growth on H₂ and Fe(III). With Fe(III) as the sole electron acceptor, BrY metabolized hydrogen to a minimum threshold at least 60-fold lower than the threshold reported for pure cultures of sulfate reducers. This finding supports the hypothesis that when Fe(III) is available, Fe(III) reducers can outcompete sulfate reducers for electron donors. Lactate was incompletely oxidized to acetate and carbon dioxide with Fe(III) as the electron acceptor. Lactate oxidation was also coupled to the reduction of Mn(IV), U(VI), fumarate, thiosulfate, or trimethylamine n-oxide under anaerobic conditions. BrY provides a model for how enzymatic metal reduction by respiratory metal-reducing microorganisms has the potential to contribute to the mobilization of iron and trace metals and to the immobilization of uranium in sediments of Great Bay Estuary.     

Electricity Production by Geobacter sulfurreducens Attached to Electrodes

Previous studies have suggested that members of the Geobacteraceae can use electrodes as electron acceptors for anaerobic respiration. In order to better understand this electron transfer process for energy production, Geobacter sulfurreducens was inoculated into chambers in which a graphite electrode served as the sole electron acceptor and acetate or hydrogen was the electron donor. The electron-accepting electrodes were maintained at oxidizing potentials by connecting them to similar electrodes in oxygenated medium (fuel cells) or to potentiostats that poised electrodes at +0.2 V versus an Ag/AgCl reference electrode (poised potential). When a small inoculum of G. sulfurreducens was introduced into electrode-containing chambers, electrical current production was dependent upon oxidation of acetate to carbon dioxide and increased exponentially, indicating for the first time that electrode reduction supported the growth of this organism. When the medium was replaced with an anaerobic buffer lacking nutrients required for growth, acetate-dependent electrical current production was unaffected and cells attached to these electrodes continued to generate electrical current for weeks. This represents the first report of microbial electricity production solely by cells attached to an electrode. Electrode-attached cells completely oxidized acetate to levels below detection (<10 μM), and hydrogen was metabolized to a threshold of 3 Pa. The rates of electron transfer to electrodes (0.21 to 1.2 μmol of electrons/mg of protein/min) were similar to those observed for respiration with Fe(III) citrate as the electron acceptor (E^o′ =+0.37 V). The production of current in microbial fuel cell (65 mA/m² of electrode surface) or poised-potential (163 to 1,143 mA/m²) mode was greater than what has been reported for other microbial systems, even those that employed higher cell densities and electron-shuttling compounds. Since acetate was completely oxidized, the efficiency of conversion of organic electron donor to electricity was significantly higher than in previously described microbial fuel cells. These results suggest that the effectiveness of microbial fuel cells can be increased with organisms such as G. sulfurreducens that can attach to electrodes and remain viable for long periods of time while completely oxidizing organic substrates with quantitative transfer of electrons to an electrode.     

Secretion of Flavins by Shewanella Species and Their Role in Extracellular Electron Transfer

Fe(III)-respiring bacteria such as Shewanella species play an important role in the global cycle of iron, manganese, and trace metals and are useful for many biotechnological applications, including microbial fuel cells and the bioremediation of waters and sediments contaminated with organics, metals, and radionuclides. Several alternative electron transfer pathways have been postulated for the reduction of insoluble extracellular subsurface minerals, such as Fe(III) oxides, by Shewanella species. One such potential mechanism involves the secretion of an electron shuttle. Here we identify for the first time flavin mononucleotide (FMN) and riboflavin as the extracellular electron shuttles produced by a range of Shewanella species. FMN secretion was strongly correlated with growth and exceeded riboflavin secretion, which was not exclusively growth associated but was maximal in the stationary phase of batch cultures. Flavin adenine dinucleotide was the predominant intracellular flavin but was not released by live cells. The flavin yields were similar under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions, with total flavin concentrations of 2.9 and 2.1 μmol per gram of cellular protein, respectively, after 24 h and were similar under dissimilatory Fe(III)-reducing conditions and when fumarate was supplied as the sole electron acceptor. The flavins were shown to act as electron shuttles and to promote anoxic growth coupled to the accelerated reduction of poorly crystalline Fe(III) oxides. The implications of flavin secretion by Shewanella cells living at redox boundaries, where these mineral phases can be significant electron acceptors for growth, are discussed.