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BIOFILMS

Passing on the electrons

Nature Reviews Microbiology volume 16, page 394 (2018)Cite this article

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Enterococci exhibit metabolic versatility that might promote their survival in diverse and complex environments; for example, it has been proposed that Enterococcus faecalis may be able to survive in environments with iron concentrations that are toxic to most bacterial species. Here, Kline and colleagues report a form of iron-dependent metabolism for E. faecalis that is linked to biofilm growth. They showed that iron supplementation enhanced E. faecalis biofilm growth, whereas planktonic growth in culture was unaffected. Moreover, the authors found that iron could accumulate in the E. faecalis biofilm matrix. The data suggest that l-lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) may function as an electron donor that transfers electrons through the cytoplasmic membrane to iron acceptors in the biofilm matrix. Alternatively, LDH may indirectly influence the expression or function of mediators of electron transfer during extracellular electron transfer.

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Original article

  • Keogh, D. & Lam, L. N. et al. Extracellular electron transfer powers Enterococcus faecalis biofilm metabolism. mBio 9, e00626-17 (2018)

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  1. Nature Reviews Microbiology http://www.nature.com/nrmicro/

    Andrea Du Toit

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  1. Andrea Du Toit
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Correspondence to Andrea Du Toit.

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Du Toit, A. Passing on the electrons. Nat Rev Microbiol 16, 394 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-018-0027-y

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