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. 1996 Dec;62(12):4678–4682. doi: 10.1128/aem.62.12.4678-4682.1996

Morphological and metabolic responses to starvation by the dissimilatory metal-reducing bacterium Shewanella alga BrY.

F Caccavo Jr 1, N B Ramsing 1, J W Costerton 1
PMCID: PMC168294  PMID: 8953739

Abstract

The response of the dissimilatory metal-reducing bacterium Shewanella alga BrY to carbon and nitrogen starvation was examined. Starvation resulted in a gradual decrease in the mean cell volume from 0.48 to 0.2 micron 3 and a dramatic decrease in Fe(III) reductase activity. Growth of starved cultures was initiated with O2, ferric oxyhydroxide, Co(III)-EDTA, or Fe(III)-bearing subsurface materials as the sole electron acceptor. Microbially reduced subsurface materials reduced CrO(4)2-. Starvation of dissimilatory metal-reducing bacteria may provide a means of delivering this metabolism to contaminated subsurface environments for in situ bioremediation.

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Selected References

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