TY - JOUR
T1 - The role of bacterial spores in metal cycling and their potential application in metal contaminant bioremediation
AU - Butterfield, Cristina N.
AU - Lee, Sung Woo
AU - Tebo, Bradley M.
N1 - Funding Information:
We gratefully acknowledge the agencies funding the research in our laboratory over the years including the National Science Foundation (OCE-1129553 and 1154307 and CHE-1410688) and the Department of Energy (Subsurface Biogeochemical Research Program, DE-SC0005324). We also thank Kati Geszvain and Matthew Jones for their thoughtful comments during the preparation of this manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - Bacteria are one of the premier biological forces that, in combination with chemical and physical forces, drive metal availability in the environment. Bacterial spores, when found in the environment, are often considered to be dormant and metabolically inactive, in a resting state waiting for favorable conditions for them to germinate. However, this is a highly oversimplified view of spores in the environment. The surface of bacterial spores represents a potential site for chemical reactions to occur. Additionally, proteins in the outer layers (spore coats or exosporium) may also have more specific catalytic activity. As a consequence, bacterial spores can play a role in geochemical processes and may indeed find uses in various biotechnological applications. The aim of this review is to introduce the role of bacteria and bacterial spores in biogeochemical cycles and their potential use as toxic metal bioremediation agents.
AB - Bacteria are one of the premier biological forces that, in combination with chemical and physical forces, drive metal availability in the environment. Bacterial spores, when found in the environment, are often considered to be dormant and metabolically inactive, in a resting state waiting for favorable conditions for them to germinate. However, this is a highly oversimplified view of spores in the environment. The surface of bacterial spores represents a potential site for chemical reactions to occur. Additionally, proteins in the outer layers (spore coats or exosporium) may also have more specific catalytic activity. As a consequence, bacterial spores can play a role in geochemical processes and may indeed find uses in various biotechnological applications. The aim of this review is to introduce the role of bacteria and bacterial spores in biogeochemical cycles and their potential use as toxic metal bioremediation agents.
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U2 - 10.1128/microbiolspec.TBS-0018-2013
DO - 10.1128/microbiolspec.TBS-0018-2013
M3 - Article
C2 - 27227313
AN - SCOPUS:85011272750
SN - 2165-0497
VL - 4
JO - Microbiology spectrum
JF - Microbiology spectrum
IS - 2
M1 - TBS-0018-2013
ER -