Formate interspecies transfer

Thiele J. H. and Zeikus J. G. (1988) Control of interspecies electron flow during anaerobic digestion significance of formate transfer versus hydrogen transfer during syntrophic... 

Wu et al. [121] demonstrated that the overall direction of reaction in this system of enzymes can be driven forward or reversed solely through the addition or removal of H2. Because this formate-hydrogen lyase enzyme system is present in representatives of both fermentative [122] and terminal metabolic [123] organisms, it has been suggested that formate may serve as an agent of interspecies electron transfer in much the same way that H2 does [122,124]. 

Other self-produced compounds for exocellular electron transfer. In addition to electron transfer by nanowires and endogenous mediators like pyocyanin, electron transfer can also occur through interspecies hydrogen transfer, the production of intermediate metabolites such as formate and acetate and other chemicals. An overall review of this subject is provided by Stams et al. (2006). However, here the focus is on direct electron transfer and thus these other routes of interspecies chemical transfer will not be addressed. 

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