Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 9, 2026
11:37
Cellular Redox Profiling Using High-content Microscopy
Published on: May 14, 2017
Community metabolism in dynamic redox landscapes
Alberto Scarampi1, Jonas Cremer2, Orkun S Soyer1
1School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK.
Current Opinion in Microbiology
|August 7, 2026
Summary
Predicting microbial community dynamics requires integrating thermodynamics, environmental factors, and cellular responses. Understanding these coupled bioenergetic processes is key to unlocking microbial metabolism insights.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Biogeochemistry
- Systems Biology
Background:
- Microbial communities drive environmental processes through energy metabolism.
- Predicting community dynamics necessitates a bioenergetic framework considering local metabolite concentrations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To present an integrated perspective on microbial community metabolism.
- To highlight the interplay of thermodynamics, environmental factors, and cellular responses.
Main Methods:
- Discusses the role of redox reaction thermodynamics (redox tower).
- Highlights the impact of external factors on metabolite availability (electron donors/acceptors).
- Emphasizes intracellular metabolic feedback loops and their environmental influence.
Main Results:
- Thermodynamics, environmental factors, and cellular responses are tightly coupled.
- Integrating these three factors is crucial for a comprehensive understanding.
- Considering only one factor yields limited insights into community metabolism.
Conclusions:
- An integrated bioenergetic approach is essential for mechanistic understanding.
- Coupled experiments and modeling are needed to study microbial communities.
- This framework advances microbial ecology and environmental science.
Related Concept Videos
01:23Redox Equilibria: Overview
A reduction-oxidation reaction is commonly called a redox reaction. In a redox reaction, electrons are transferred from one species to another rather than being shared between or among atoms. The reducing agent or reductant is the species that loses electrons and gets oxidized in the process. The species that gains electrons and gets reduced in the process is the oxidizing agent or oxidant. Redox reactions are represented as two separate equations called half-reactions, where one equation...
01:27Redox Reactions
Redox reactions are vital biochemical processes that underpin energy metabolism in cells. These reactions involve the transfer of electrons between molecules, occurring in tandem as oxidation and reduction. Oxidation refers to the loss of electrons, while reduction denotes their gain. This coupling ensures the seamless flow of electrons through metabolic pathways. For example, in bacterial metabolism, glucose undergoes oxidation to carbon dioxide, while oxygen is simultaneously reduced to...
01:24Redox Reactions
Oxidation-reduction or redox reactions involve the transfer of electrons from one molecule or atom to another. When an atom gains an electron, another atom must lose an electron, meaning oxidation and reduction must occur together. Since the redox occurs in pairs, the atom that gets oxidized is also called the reducing agent or reductant, and the atom that is reduced is also called the oxidizing agent or oxidant. A straightforward way to remember the definitions of oxidation and reduction is...
01:24Microbes and Other Elemental Cycles
Microbial activity plays a pivotal role in the biogeochemical cycling of iron and manganese, especially at the redox gradients characteristic of stratified aquatic environments. These cycles are driven by microbial transformations between oxidized and reduced forms of the metals, allowing organisms to exploit them for metabolic energy and structural purposes.Iron Cycling Across Redox GradientsIn neutral, oxygen-rich surface waters, iron is predominantly found in its oxidized, insoluble ferric...
01:30Ladder Diagrams: Redox Equilibria
Ladder diagrams are useful tools for understanding redox equilibrium reactions, especially the effects of concentration changes on the electrochemical potential of the reaction. The vertical axis in the redox ladder diagrams represents the electrochemical potential, E. The area of predominance is demarcated using the Nernst equation.
Consider the Fe3+/Fe2+ half-reaction, which has a standard-state potential of +0.771 V. At potentials more positive than +0.771 V, Fe3+ predominates, whereas Fe2+...
Consider the Fe3+/Fe2+ half-reaction, which has a standard-state potential of +0.771 V. At potentials more positive than +0.771 V, Fe3+ predominates, whereas Fe2+...
02:58Balancing Redox Equations
Electrochemistry is the science involved in the interconversion of electrical and chemical reactions. Such reactions are called reduction-oxidation, or redox reactions. These important reactions are defined by changes in oxidation states for one or more reactant elements and include a subset of reactions involving the transfer of electrons between reactant species. Electrochemistry as a field has evolved to yield sufficient insights on the fundamental principles of redox chemistry and multiple...