science

Geobacter sulfurreducens

Geobacter sulfurreducens is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Geobacter sulfurreducens rather than just read about it. In short: Geobacter sulfurreducens is a gram-negative metal- and sulphur-reducing proteobacterium. It is rod-shaped, aerotolerant anaerobe, non-fermentative, has flagellum and type four pili, and is closely related to Geobacter metallireducens.

Key takeaways

Geobacter sulfurreducens belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Geobacter sulfurreducens to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Geobacter sulfurreducens from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Geobacter sulfurreducens is a gram-negative metal- and sulphur-reducing proteobacterium. It is rod-shaped, aerotolerant anaerobe, non-fermentative, has flagellum and type four pili, and is closely related to Geobacter metallireducens. Geobacter sulfurreducens is an anaerobic species of bacteria that comes from the family of bacteria called Geobacteraceae. Under the genus of Geobacter, G. sulfurreducens is one out of twenty different species. The Geobacter genus was discovered by Derek R. Lovley in 1987. G. sulfurreducens was first isolated in Norman, Oklahoma, USA from materials found around the surface of a contaminated ditch.

Characteristics

Geobacter sulfurreducens is a rod-shaped microbe with a gram-negative cell wall. Geobacter is known as a type of bacteria that is able to conduct levels of electricity, and the species G. sulfurreducens is also known as “electricigens” due to their ability to create an electric current and produce electricity. A study by Daniel Bond and Derek Lovley in 2003 showed that because of G. sulfurreducens’ ability to conduct electricity, there was a possibility of creating an effective and long lasting microbial fuel cell (MFC). This study proved successful, as it was found that because G. sulfurreducens cells are successful at conducting electricity and changing electrons into electricity, it was also found that this made it possible to have electricity conducted for long periods of time. Due to these findings, organizations such as the World Bank have been heavily funding projects in countries such as Tanzania and Namibia in which they work to harness G. sulfurreducens to run on waste products in order to have electricity for lights and for the charging of batteries. Geobacter sulfurreducens could be useful in bioremediation of uranium-contaminated groundwater.

Genome Geobacter sulfurreducens consists of a genome with one single circular chromosome and that single chromosome contains 3,814,139 base pairs (bp). The fact that this microbe has a circular chromosome is a further indication that it is a normal prokaryote, identified as a bacterium. It is predicted that G. sulfurreducens contains 3466 coding sequences, with the average size of these coding sequences being 989 base pairs. The microbe contains a high number of c-type cytochromes, which are utilized for electron transport proteins. There is a hypothesis that due to its genomic make up, G. sulfurreducens is able to identify surfaces and can construct biofilms that are able to conduct electricity by utilizing its ability to transport electrons. Overall, the genomic make up of G. sulfurreducens appears to support the current understanding of the ways in which the microbe is able to metabolize easily and transport electrons. An interesting part of the microbe's genomic makeup, is that it is missing an enzyme called formyltetrahydrofolate synthetase, also referred to as FTS. This is relevant, because FTS is utilized to help the metabolic process – Which is a key function of G. sulfurreducens. Because FTS is an enzyme that is missing, G. sulfurreducens instead utilizes the reverse electron transport process and completely ignores the missing FTS enzyme.

See also Bacterial nanowires#Implications and potential applications

References

Further reading Bond DR, Lovley DR (March 2003). "Electricity production by Geobacter sulfurreducens attached to electrodes". Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 69 (3): 1548–55. doi:10.1128/aem.69.3.1548-1555.2003. PMC 150094. PMID 12620842. Butler, Jessica E; Young, Nelson D; Aklujkar, Muktak; Lovley, Derek R (2012). "Comparative genomic analysis of Geobacter sulfurreducens KN400, a strain with enhanced capacity for extracellular electron transfer and electricity production". BMC Genomics. 13 (1): 471. doi:10.1186/1471-2164-13-471. ISSN 1471-2164. PMC 3495685. PMID 22967216. Esteve-Nunez, Abraham; Rothermich, Mary; Sharma, Manju; Lovley, Derek (2005). "Growth of Geobacter sulfurreducens under nutrient-limiting conditions in continuous culture". Environmental Microbiology. 7 (5): 641–648. doi:10.1111/j.1462-2920.2005.00731.x. ISSN 1462-2912. PMID 15819846. Yang, Tae Hoon; Coppi, Maddalena V; Lovley, Derek R; Sun, Jun (2010). "Metabolic response of Geobacter sulfurreducens towards electron donor/acceptor variation". Microbial Cell Factories. 9 (1): 90. doi:10.1186/1475-2859-9-90. ISSN 1475-2859. PMC 3002917. PMID 21092215.

External links "Geobacter sulfurreducens". The Encyclopedia of Life. Type strain of Geobacter sulfurreducens at BacDive - the Bacterial Diversity Metadatabase

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Geobacter sulfurreducens

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Geobacter sulfurreducens claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Geobacter sulfurreducens before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Geobacter sulfurreducens ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Geobacter sulfurreducens

In research: Geobacter sulfurreducens appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Geobacter sulfurreducens in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Geobacter sulfurreducens is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Bacteria described in 1994, Thermodesulfobacteriota, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Geobacter sulfurreducens outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Geobacter sulfurreducens in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Geobacter sulfurreducens means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Geobacter sulfurreducens out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Geobacter sulfurreducens in simple terms?

Why does Geobacter sulfurreducens matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Geobacter sulfurreducens?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Geobacter sulfurreducens.