Abstract
Extracts ofEscherichia coli, harvested from aerobic, anaerobic, or oxygen-limited cultures, reduced Fe(III) citrate with NADH or NADPH as reductants. The activity was predominantly soluble, not membrane bound. Cytochromes and quinones were shown, by the use of respiration-deficient mutants, not to be involved in electron transfer to Fe(III). Neither nitrate nor nitrite, alternative electron acceptors from the respiratory chain, directly inhibited Fe(III) reduction, but in anaerobic cultures containing nitrate and high Fe(III) concentrations, no Fe(II) accumulated; this was attributed to the reoxidation of Fe(II) by nitrite, the product of nitrate reduction. The pathway(s) of electron transport to the metal ion, the observed stimulation of Fe(III) reduction by ATP and cyanide, and the possible physiological significance of the reaction are discussed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Literature Cited
Arceneaux JEL, Byers BR (1980) Ferrisiderophore reductase activity inBacillus megaterium. J Bacteriol 141:715–721
Cox CD (1980) Iron reductase inPseudomonas aeruginosa. J Bacteriol 141:199–204
Dailey HA, Lascelles J (1977) Reduction of iron and synthesis of protoheme bySpirillum itersonii and other organisms. J Bacteriol 129:815–820
Haddock BA (1973) The reconstitution of oxidase activity in membranes derived from a δ-aminolaevulinic acid-requiring mutant ofEscherichia coli. Biochem J 136:877–884
Haddock BA, Downie JA, Garland PB (1976) Kinetic characterisation of the membrane-bound cytochromes ofEscherichia coli grown under a variety of conditions by using a stopped-flow dual-wavelength spectrophotometer. Biochem J 154:285–294
Ingledew WJ, Poole RK (1984) The respiratory chains ofEscherichia coli. Microbiol Rev 48:222–271
Jones JG, Gardener S, Simon BM (1983) Bacterial reduction of ferric iron in a stratified eutrophic lake. J Gen Microbiol 129:131–139
Lascelles J, Burke KA (1978) Reduction of ferric iron byl-lactate anddl-glycerol-3-phosphate in membrane preparations fromStaphylococcus aureus and interactions with the nitrate reductase system. J Bacteriol 134:585–589
Lodge JS, Gaines CG, Arceneaux JEL, Byers BR (1982) Heme inhibition of ferrisiderophore reductase inBacillus subtilis. J Bacteriol 152:943–945
Lundgren DG, Boucheron J, Mahony W (1983) Geomicrobiology of iron: mechanism of ferric iron reduction. In: Rossi G, Torma AE (eds) Recent progress in biohyrometallurgy Iglesias, Italy: Associazione Mineraria Sarda, pp 55–69
Mansour AN, Thompson C, Theil EC, Chasteen ND, Sayers DE (1985) Fe(III) ATP complexes: models for ferritin and other polynuclear iron complexes with phosphate. J Biol Chem 260:7975–7979
Moody MD, Dailey HA (1985) Ferric iron reductase ofRhodopseudomonas sphaeroides. J Bacteriol 163:1120–1125
Obuekwe CO, Westlake DWS (1982) Effects of medium composition on cell pigmentation, cytochrome content and ferric iron reductase in aPseudomonas sp. isolated from crude oil. Can J Microbiol 28:989–992
Obuekwe CO, Westlake DWS, Cook FD (1981) Effect of nitrate on reduction of ferric iron by a bacterium isolated from crude oil. Can J Microbiol 27:692–697
Ottow JCG (1968) Evaluation of iron-reducing bacteria in soil and the physiological mechanism of iron-reduction inAerobacter aerogenes. Z Allg Mikrobiol 8:441–443
Ottow JCG (1970) Selection, characterisation and iron-reducing capacity of nitrate reductaseless (nit−) mutants of iron-reducing bacteria. Z Allg Mikrobiol 10:55–62
Poole RK (1977) The influence of growth substrate and capacity for oxidative phosphorylation on respiratory oscillations in synchronous cultures ofEscherichia coli K12. J Gen Microbiol 99:19–27
Poole RK, Haddock BA (1974) Energy-linked reduction of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide in membranes derived from normal and various respiratory-deficient mutant strains ofEscherichia coli K12. Biochem J 144:77–85
Poole RK, Waring AJ, Chance B (1979) The reaction of cytochromeo inEscherichia coli with oxygen: low temperature kinetic and spectral studies. Biochem J 184:379–389
Scott RI, Poole RK (1982) A re-examination of the cytochromes ofEscherichia coli using fourth-order finite difference analysis: their characterisation under different growth conditions and accumulation during the cell cycle. J Gen Microbiol 128:1685–1696
Starkey RL, Halvorson HO (1927) Studies on the transformation of iron in nature. II. Concerning the importance of microorganisms in the solution and precipitation of iron. Soil Sci 24:381–402
Stookey LL (1970) Ferrozine: a new spectrophotometric reagent for iron. Anal Chem 42:779–781
Wallace BJ, Young IG (1977) Role of quinones in electron transport to oxygen and nitrate inEscherichia coli: studies with aubiA− menA− double quinone mutant. Biochim Biophys Acta 461:84–100
Williams HD, Poole RK (1983) Reduction of ferric iron byEscherichia coli. Soc Gen Microbiol Q 10:M6
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Williams, H.D., Poole, R.K. Reduction of iron(III) byEscherichia coli K12: Lack of involvement of the respiratory chains. Current Microbiology 15, 319–324 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01577588
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01577588