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Laboratory Simulation of an Iron(II)-rich Precambrian Marine Upwelling System to Explore the Growth of Photosynthetic Bacteria
Published on: July 24, 2016
Bio-current as an indicator for biogenic Fe(II) generation driven by dissimilatory iron reducing bacteria
Chunhua Feng1, Xianjun Yue, Fangbai Li
1The Key Lab of Pollution Control and Ecosystem Restoration in Industry Clusters, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, PR China.
Abstract:
Microbial reduction of insoluble iron minerals by dissimilatory iron reducing bacteria (DIRB) is an important environment process in the iron biogeochemical cycle. We reported that the bio-current generated from oxidation of organic matter by these bacteria in the presence of iron oxides can be used as an indicator for microbial dissolution of insoluble iron oxides. Bioelectrochemical experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of the specific bacteria and the phase identity of iron oxides on bio-current generation by recording the current response as a result of a poised constant potential. Experimental results indicated that the bio-current generation can be greatly enhanced by iron oxide addition under all the conditions varying in the type of pure culture or iron oxide. The increase in the bio-current was linearly correlated with the increased concentration of biogenic Fe(II) detected either by chemical analysis or cyclic voltammetry (CV) tests. This can be understood based on the proposed mechanism that the Fe(II)/Fe(III) couple functions as the electron mediator shuttling electrons from the microbes to the electrodes.
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