@article {3126,
	title = {Going wireless: Fe(III) oxide reduction without pili by Geobacter sulfurreducens strain JS-1.},
	journal = {Appl Environ Microbiol},
	volume = {80},
	year = {2014},
	month = {2014 Jul},
	pages = {4331-40},
	abstract = {<p>Previous studies have suggested that the conductive pili of Geobacter sulfurreducens are essential for extracellular electron transfer to Fe(III) oxides and for optimal long-range electron transport through current-producing biofilms. The KN400 strain of G. sulfurreducens reduces poorly crystalline Fe(III) oxide more rapidly than the more extensively studied DL-1 strain. Deletion of the gene encoding PilA, the structural pilin protein, in strain KN400 inhibited Fe(III) oxide reduction. However, low rates of Fe(III) reduction were detected after extended incubation (>30 days) in the presence of Fe(III) oxide. After seven consecutive transfers, the PilA-deficient strain adapted to reduce Fe(III) oxide as fast as the wild type. Microarray, whole-genome resequencing, proteomic, and gene deletion studies indicated that this adaptation was associated with the production of larger amounts of the c-type cytochrome PgcA, which was released into the culture medium. It is proposed that the extracellular cytochrome acts as an electron shuttle, promoting electron transfer from the outer cell surface to Fe(III) oxides. The adapted PilA-deficient strain competed well with the wild-type strain when both were grown together on Fe(III) oxide. However, when 50\% of the culture medium was replaced with fresh medium every 3 days, the wild-type strain outcompeted the adapted strain. A possible explanation for this is that the necessity to produce additional PgcA, to replace the PgcA being continually removed, put the adapted strain at a competitive disadvantage, similar to the apparent selection against electron shuttle-producing Fe(III) reducers in many anaerobic soils and sediments. Despite increased extracellular cytochrome production, the adapted PilA-deficient strain produced low levels of current, consistent with the concept that long-range electron transport through G. sulfurreducens biofilms is more effective via pili.</p>},
	keywords = {Adaptation, Physiological, Biofilms, DNA, Bacterial, Electron Transport, Ferric Compounds, Fimbriae Proteins, Fimbriae, Bacterial, Gene Deletion, Geobacter, Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis, Proteomics, Sequence Analysis, DNA},
	issn = {1098-5336},
	doi = {10.1128/AEM.01122-14},
	author = {Smith, Jessica A and Tremblay, Pier-Luc and Shrestha, Pravin Malla and Snoeyenbos-West, Oona L and Franks, Ashley E and Nevin, Kelly P and Lovley, Derek R}
}
@article {408,
	title = {Real-time spatial gene expression analysis within current-producing biofilms.},
	journal = {ChemSusChem},
	volume = {5},
	year = {2012},
	month = {2012 Jun},
	pages = {1092-8},
	abstract = {<p>The expression of genes involved in central metabolism and extracellular electron transfer was examined in real-time in current-producing anode biofilms of Geobacter sulfurreducens. Strains of G. sulfurreducens were generated, in which the expression of the gene for a short half-life fluorescent protein was placed under control of the promoter of the genes of interest. Anode biofilms were grown in a chamber that permitted direct examination of the cell fluorescence with confocal scanning laser microscopy. Studies on nifD and citrate synthase expression in response to environmental changes demonstrated that the reporter system revealed initiation and termination of gene transcription. Uniform expression throughout the biofilms was noted for the genes for citrate synthase; PilA, the structural protein of the conductive pili; and OmcZ, a c-type cytochrome essential for optimal current production, which was localized at the anode-biofilm interface. These results demonstrate that even cells at great distance from the anode, or within expected low-pH zones, are metabolically active and likely to contribute to current production and that there are factors other than gene expression differences influencing the distribution of OmcZ. This real-time reporter approach is likely to be a useful tool in optimizing the design of technologies relying on microbe-electrode interactions.</p>},
	keywords = {Bacterial Proteins, Bioelectric Energy Sources, Biofilms, Citrate (si)-Synthase, Cytochrome c Group, Fimbriae Proteins, Fimbriae, Bacterial, Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial, Geobacter, Quaternary Ammonium Compounds},
	issn = {1864-564X},
	doi = {10.1002/cssc.201100714},
	author = {Franks, Ashley E and Glaven, Richard H and Lovley, Derek R}
}
@article {431,
	title = {Direct exchange of electrons within aggregates of an evolved syntrophic coculture of anaerobic bacteria.},
	journal = {Science},
	volume = {330},
	year = {2010},
	month = {2010 Dec 3},
	pages = {1413-5},
	abstract = {Microbial consortia that cooperatively exchange electrons play a key role in the anaerobic processing of organic matter. Interspecies hydrogen transfer is a well-documented strategy for electron exchange in dispersed laboratory cultures, but cooperative partners in natural environments often form multispecies aggregates. We found that laboratory evolution of a coculture of Geobacter metallireducens and Geobacter sulfurreducens metabolizing ethanol favored the formation of aggregates that were electrically conductive. Sequencing aggregate DNA revealed selection for a mutation that enhances the production of a c-type cytochrome involved in extracellular electron transfer and accelerates the formation of aggregates. Aggregate formation was also much faster in mutants that were deficient in interspecies hydrogen transfer, further suggesting direct interspecies electron transfer.},
	keywords = {Anaerobiosis, Bacterial Proteins, Biological Evolution, Culture Media, Cytochrome c Group, Electron Transport, Electrons, Ethanol, Fimbriae Proteins, Geobacter, Hydrogen, Microbial Consortia, Microbial Interactions, Mutation, Oxidation-Reduction, Selection, Genetic},
	issn = {1095-9203},
	doi = {10.1126/science.1196526},
	author = {Summers, Zarath M and Fogarty, Heather E and Leang, Ching and Franks, Ashley E and Malvankar, Nikhil S and Lovley, Derek R}
}
@article {442,
	title = {Production of pilus-like filaments in Geobacter sulfurreducens in the absence of the type IV pilin protein PilA.},
	journal = {FEMS Microbiol Lett},
	volume = {310},
	year = {2010},
	month = {2010 Sep 1},
	pages = {62-8},
	abstract = {The pili of Geobacter sulfurreducens are of interest because of the apparent importance of the type IV pili in extracellular electron transfer. A strain of G. sulfurreducens, designated strain MA, produced many more pili than the previously studied DL-1 strain even though genome resequencing indicated that the MA and DL-1 genome sequences were identical. Filaments that looked similar to type IV pili in transmission electron micrographs were abundant even after the gene encoding PilA, the structural pilin protein, was deleted. The results of proteinase K treatment indicated that the filaments were proteinaceous. The simultaneous deletion of several genes encoding homologues of type II pseudopilins was required before the filaments were significantly depleted. The pilA-deficient MA strain attached to glass as well as the wild-type MA did, but strains in which three or four pseudopilin genes were deleted in addition to pilA had impaired attachment capabilities. These results demonstrate that there are several proteins that can yield pilin-like filaments in G. sulfurreducens and that some means other than microscopic observation is required before the composition of filaments can be unambiguously specified.},
	keywords = {Bacterial Adhesion, Fimbriae Proteins, Fimbriae, Bacterial, Gene Deletion, Geobacter, Glass, Microscopy, Electron, Transmission},
	issn = {1574-6968},
	doi = {10.1111/j.1574-6968.2010.02046.x},
	author = {Klimes, Anna and Franks, Ashley E and Glaven, Richard H and Tran, Hoa and Barrett, Christian L and Qiu, Yu and Zengler, Karsten and Lovley, Derek R}
}
