Bacteria manganese

Metal depositors. Metal-depositing bacteria oxidize ferrous iron (Fe ) to ferric iron (Fe ). Ferric hydroxide is the result. Some bacteria oxidize manganese and other metals. Gallionella bacteria, in particular, have been associated with the accumulation of iron oxides in tubercles. In fact, up to 90% of the dry weight of the cell mass can be iron hydroxide. These bacteria appear filamentous. The oxide accumulates along very fine tails or excretion stalks generated by these organisms. 

In some reports Gallionella have been associated with manganese and iron deposits that also contain chloride. It has been postulated that deep undercut pits on stainless steels (especially at welds) containing such deposits are indirectly caused by these bacteria, since the iron-manganese deposition can be accelerated by Gallionella. In spite of numerous literature citings, however, evidence for stainless steel... 

Raw water essentially should be free of suspended matter, natural organics, iron, manganese, and sulfur gases. Ideally, it should also be low in hardness, alkalinity, silica, and bacteria and have a pH level of approximately 7 to 8. 

Metal cycles Iron and manganese oxidation and reduction Iron bacteria and manganese bacteria... 

Manganese and iron oxidation are coupled to cell growth and metabolism of organic carbon. Microbially deposited manganese oxide on stainless and mild steel alters electrochemical properties related to the potential for corrosion. Iron-oxidizing bacteria produce tubercles of iron oxides and hydroxides, creating oxygen-concentration cells that initiate a series of events that individually or collectively are very corrosive. 

By far the most important ores of iron come from Precambrian banded iron formations (BIF), which are essentially chemical sediments of alternating siliceous and iron-rich bands. The most notable occurrences are those at Hamersley in Australia, Lake Superior in USA and Canada, Transvaal in South Africa, and Bihar and Karnataka in India. The important manganese deposits of the world are associated with sedimentary deposits the manganese nodules on the ocean floor are also chemically precipitated from solutions. Phosphorites, the main source of phosphates, are special types of sedimentary deposits formed under marine conditions. Bedded iron sulfide deposits are formed by sulfate reducing bacteria in sedimentary environments. Similarly uranium-vanadium in sandstone-type uranium deposits and stratiform lead and zinc concentrations associated with carbonate rocks owe their origin to syngenetic chemical precipitation. 

Gregory, E. Staley, J.T. 1982. Widespread Distribution of Ability to Oxidize Manganese Among Freshwater Bacteria. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 44, 509-511. 

Likewise, for zinc, bacteria have developed active uptake systems (Hantke, 2001). In many bacteria the high-affinity Zn2+ uptake system uses an ABC transporter of the cluster 9 family, which mostly transports zinc and manganese and is found in nearly all bacterial species. First identified in cyanobacteria and pathogenic streptococci, but also found in E. coli, the system is encoded by three genes ZnuABC and consists of an outer membrane permease ZnuB, a periplasmic-binding protein ZnuA and a cytoplasmic ATPase ZnuC. Low-affinity transporters of the ZIP family, described later in this chapter, such as ZupT, have also been shown to be involved in bacterial zinc uptake. 

The importance of manganese for bacteria, such as that of Ni and to a lesser extent Co, as we saw in the last chapter, is considerable. Of course, as we will see shortly, it is also important in the tetranuclear Mn cluster that is involved in oxygen production in photosynthetic plants, algae and cyanobacteria, as well as in a number of mammalian enzymes such as arginase and mitochondrial superoxide dismutase. Most of manganese biochemistry can be explained on the one hand by its redox activity, and on the other by its analogy to Mg2+ (reviewed in Yocum and Pecoraro, 1999). 

---