In addition to its central role in mediating electron-transfer reactions within all living cells, iron undergoes extracellular redox transformations linked to microbial energy generation through utilization of Fe(II) as a source of chemical energy or Fe(III) as an electron acceptor for anaerobic respiration. These processes permit microbial populations and communities to engage in cyclic coupled iron oxidation and reduction within redox transition zones in subsurface environments. In the present paper, I review and synthesize a few case studies of iron-redox cycling in subsurface environments, highlighting key biochemical aspects of the extracellular iron-redox metabolisms involved. Of specific interest are the coupling of iron oxidation and reduction in field and experimental systems that model redox gradients and fluctuations in the subsurface, and novel pathways and organisms involved in the redox cycling of insoluble iron-bearing minerals. These findings set the stage for rapid expansion in our knowledge of the range of extracellular electron-transfer mechanisms utilized by subsurface micro-organisms. The observation that closely coupled oxidation and reduction of iron can take place under conditions common to the subsurface motivates this expansion in pursuit of molecular tools for studying iron-redox cycling communities in situ.
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December 2012
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Conference Article|
November 21 2012
Microbial iron-redox cycling in subsurface environments
Eric E. Roden
Eric E. Roden
1
1Department of Geoscience, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1215 West Dayton Street, Madison, WI 53706, U.S.A.
1emaileroden@geology.wisc.edu
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
August 10 2012
Online ISSN: 1470-8752
Print ISSN: 0300-5127
© 2012 The Authors Journal
2012
Biochem Soc Trans (2012) 40 (6): 1249–1256.
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Received:
August 10 2012
Citation
Eric E. Roden; Microbial iron-redox cycling in subsurface environments. Biochem Soc Trans 1 December 2012; 40 (6): 1249–1256. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/BST20120202
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