Final Scientific Report: Bacterial Nanowires and Extracellular Electron Transfer to Heavy Metals and Radionuclides by Bacterial Isolates from DOE Field Research Centers
- Univ. of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)
This proposal involved the study of bacteria capable of transferring electrons from the bacterial cells to electron acceptors located outside the cell. These could be either insoluble minerals that were transformed into soluble products upon the addition of electrons, or they could be soluble salts like uranium or chromium, that become insoluble upon the addition of electrons. This process is called extracellular electron transport or EET, and can be done directly by cellular contact, or via conductive appendages called bacterial nanowires. In this work we examined a number of different bacteria for their ability to perform EET, and also looked at their ability to produce conductive nanowires that can be used for EET at a distance away from the EET-capable cells. In the work, new bacteria were isolated, new abilities of EET were examined, and many new methods were developed, and carefully described in the literature. These studies set the stage for future work dealing with the bioremediation of toxic metals like uranium and chromium. They also point out that EET (and conductive nanowires) are far more common that had been appreciated, and may be involved with energy transfer not only in sediments, but in symbioses between different bacteria, and in symbiosis/pathogenesis between bacteria and higher organisms.
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
- DOE Contract Number:
- SC0006813
- OSTI ID:
- 1337164
- Report Number(s):
- DOE-USC-0006813; 2138213933; TRN: US1701420
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Composition, Reactivity and Regulation of Extracellular Metal-Reducing Structures (Bacterial Nanowires) Produced by Dissimilatory Metal - Reducing Bacteria.
Significance of a Posttranslational Modification of the PilA Protein of Geobacter sulfurreducens for Surface Attachment, Biofilm Formation, and Growth on Insoluble Extracellular Electron Acceptors
Related Subjects
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
CHROMIUM
HEAVY METALS
URANIUM
BACTERIA
NANOWIRES
RADIOISOTOPES
ELECTRON TRANSFER
BIOREMEDIATION
ENERGY TRANSFER
MINERALS SEDIMENTS
TOXIC MATERIALS
extracellular electron transport
environmental microbiology