Reductive biomining of pyrite by methanogens

Spietz, Rachel L.; Payne, Devon; Szilágyi, Róbert K.; Boyd, Eric S.

doi:10.1016/j.tim.2022.05.005

Cited by 11 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 74 publications

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“…In the mica schist, sulfur occurs mainly in pyrrhotite [Fe (1–x) S] and more rarely in pyrite (FeS 2 ) and chalcopyrite (CuFeS 2 ) ( Västi, 2011 ). Moreover, sulfides in rocks may be leached by the saline groundwater (Na + and Cl – ), oxidized in anoxic conditions abiotically with ferric iron Fe (III) or by microorganisms, and released as sulfate or other intermediate sulfur species ( Müller and Regenspurg, 2017 ; Jakus et al, 2021 ; Bao et al, 2022 ), which is evident in the recent reviews on sulfide mineral–microbe interactions ( Bomberg et al, 2021 ; Ortiz-Castillo et al, 2021 ; Spietz et al, 2022 ). Rock surface biofilms could potentially facilitate interactions in the necessary cycling processes between different groups of microorganisms.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Implications of a short carbon pulse on biofilm formation on mica schist in microcosms with deep crystalline bedrock groundwater

et al. 2023

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Microbial life in the deep subsurface occupies rock surfaces as attached communities and biofilms. Previously, epilithic Fennoscandian deep subsurface bacterial communities were shown to host genetic potential, especially for heterotrophy and sulfur cycling. Acetate, methane, and methanol link multiple biogeochemical pathways and thus represent an important carbon and energy source for microorganisms in the deep subsurface. In this study, we examined further how a short pulse of low-molecular-weight carbon compounds impacts the formation and structure of sessile microbial communities on mica schist surfaces over an incubation period of ∼3.5 years in microcosms containing deep subsurface groundwater from the depth of 500 m, from Outokumpu, Finland. The marker gene copy counts in the water and rock phases were estimated with qPCR, which showed that bacteria dominated the mica schist communities with a relatively high proportion of epilithic sulfate-reducing bacteria in all microcosms. The dominant bacterial phyla in the microcosms were Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, and Actinobacteria, whereas most fungal genera belonged to Ascomycota and Basidiomycota. Dissimilarities between planktic and sessile rock surface microbial communities were observed, and the supplied carbon substrates led to variations in the bacterial community composition.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Implications of a short carbon pulse on biofilm formation on mica schist in microcosms with deep crystalline bedrock groundwater

et al. 2023

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“…The apparent assimilation of FeS (aq) by anaerobic methanogens also provides a new avenue to explore how [Fe–S] biocatalysts may have originated from iron–sulfide mineral catalysts. FeS (aq) show a strong resemblance in their structure and composition to [Fe–S] clusters found in proteins (Figure 1; Boyd, Schut, Broderick, et al, 2014c; Rickard & Luther, 2007; Spietz, Payne, Szilagyi, & Boyd, 2022a). The same is true for other iron sulfide minerals (e.g., FeS (mack) , Fe 3 S 4 ) and the metal‐cofactors that form the active sites of metalloenzymes (Boyd, Schut, Broderick, et al, 2014c; Russell & Martin, 2004).…”

Section: Iron Sulfur‐based Metallocofactorsmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Like the aforementioned minerals, [Fe–S] enzymes like hydrogenase, nitrogenase, and CO dehydrogenase also catalyse transformations of H 2 , N 2 , CO/CO 2 , respectively, at active sites that contain modified [Fe–S] metal cofactors. Parallels in the composition and reactivity of abiotic iron–sulfide minerals and the [Fe–S] centres of metalloenzymes that catalyse such reactions raise the intriguing question of whether enzymes were originally templated by mineral‐based precursors (Boyd, Schut, Broderick, et al, 2014c; Russell & Martin, 2004; Spietz, Payne, Szilagyi, & Boyd, 2022a).…”

Section: Iron Sulfur‐based Metallocofactorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Methanococcus voltae encodes a SUF‐minimal pathway lacking a homologue of cysteine desulfurase whereas M. barkeri encodes a traditional SUF pathway with a homologue of cysteine desulfurase (Johnson et al, 2021). Based on available chemical and microbial data from growth studies, Spietz et al describe a model for reductive dissolution of FeS 2 wherein FeS 2 reduction occurs via spontaneous extracellular electron transfer from the cell membrane to the mineral, with direct cell‐mineral contact required for reduction (Spietz, Payne, Kulkarni, et al, 2022b; Spietz, Payne, Szilagyi, & Boyd, 2022a). Reduction of a surface exposed persulfide in FeS 2 releases HS − into solution and generates pyrrhotite (Fe 1‐ x S) as a residual mineral on the surface of FeS 2 .…”

Section: Iron Sulfur‐based Metallocofactorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A naturalist perspective of microbiology: Examples from methanogenic archaea

Boyd

Spietz

Kour

et al. 2022

Environmental Microbiology

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Storytelling has been the primary means of knowledge transfer over human history. The effectiveness and reach of stories are improved when the message is appropriate for the target audience. Oftentimes, the stories that are most well received and recounted are those that have a clear purpose and that are told from a variety of perspectives that touch on the varied interests of the target audience. Whether scientists realize or not, they are accustomed to telling stories of their own scientific discoveries through the preparation of manuscripts, presentations, and lectures. Perhaps less frequently, scientists prepare review articles or book chapters that summarize a body of knowledge on a given subject matter, meant to be more holistic recounts of a body of literature. Yet, by necessity, such summaries are often still narrow in their scope and are told from the perspective of a particular discipline. In other words, interdisciplinary reviews or book chapters tend to be the rarity rather than the norm. Here, we advocate for and highlight the benefits of interdisciplinary perspectives on microbiological subjects.

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“…For the latter, methanogens as anaerobic archaea generating methane via metabolism of carbon dioxide, alcohols, and organic acids, 7 were also shown to reduce FeS 2(p) 8–13 . The insoluble nature of FeS 2(p) indicates 14 that reduction by methanogens takes place extracellularly either via direct contact with the mineral surface to catalyze reduction 15 or with the asistance of soluble redox shuttles for long range reduction, such as quinone analogs (i.e., anthraquinone‐2,6‐disulfonate) 16 . Mineral reduction by methanogens does not appear to be energy‐yielding and rather is carried out to generate bioavailable Fe and S in order to meet the cells' biosynthetic demands for these elements.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of molecular cluster models to probe pyrite surface reactivity

Kour,

Taborosi,

Boyd

et al. 2023

J Comput Chem

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The recent discovery that anaerobic methanogens can reductively dissolve pyrite and utilize dissolution products as a source of iron and sulfur to meet their biosynthetic demands for these elements prompted the development of atomic‐scale nanoparticle models, as maquettes of reactive surface sites, for describing the fundamental redox steps that take place at the mineral surface during reduction. The given report describes our computational approach for modeling n(FeS2) nanoparticles originated from mineral bulk structure. These maquettes contain a comprehensive set of coordinatively unsaturated Fe(II) sites that are connected via a range of persulfide (S22−) ligation. In addition to the specific maquettes with n = 8, 18, and 32 FeS2 units, we established guidelines for obtaining low‐energy structures by considering the pattern of ionic, covalent, and magnetic interactions among the metal and ligand sites. The developed models serve as computational nano‐reactors that can be used to describe the reductive dissolution mechanism of pyrite to better understand the reactive sites on the mineral, where microbial extracellular electron‐transfer reactions can occur.

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Reductive biomining of pyrite by methanogens

Cited by 11 publications

References 74 publications

Implications of a short carbon pulse on biofilm formation on mica schist in microcosms with deep crystalline bedrock groundwater

Implications of a short carbon pulse on biofilm formation on mica schist in microcosms with deep crystalline bedrock groundwater

A naturalist perspective of microbiology: Examples from methanogenic archaea

Development of molecular cluster models to probe pyrite surface reactivity

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