A flavin-based extracellular electron transfer mechanism in diverse Gram-positive bacteria.

ABSTRACT: Extracellular electron transfer (EET) describes microbial bioelectrochemical processes in which electrons are transferred from the cytosol to the exterior of the cell¹. Mineral-respiring bacteria use elaborate haem-based electron transfer mechanisms^2-4 but the existence and mechanistic basis of other EETs remain largely unknown. Here we show that the food-borne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes uses a distinctive flavin-based EET mechanism to deliver electrons to iron or an electrode. By performing a forward genetic screen to identify L. monocytogenes mutants with diminished extracellular ferric iron reductase activity, we identified an eight-gene locus that is responsible for EET. This locus encodes a specialized NADH dehydrogenase that segregates EET from aerobic resp

SUBMITTER: Light SH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6221200 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature