Genome of Geobacter sulfurreducens: Metal Reduction in Subsurface Environments

Methé, B. A.
Nelson, K. E.
Eisen, J. A.
Paulsen, I. T.
Nelson, W.
Heidelberg, J. F.
Wu, D.
Wu, M.
Ward, N.
Beanan, M. J.
Dodson, R. J.
Madupu, R.
Brinkac, L. M.
Daugherty, S. C.
DeBoy, R. T.
Durkin, A. S.
Gwinn, M.
Kolonay, J. F.
Sullivan, S. A.
Haft, D. H.
Selengut, J.
Davidsen, T. M.
Zafar, N.
White, O.
Tran, B.
Romero, C.
Forberger, H. A.
Weidman, J.
Khouri, H.
Feldblyum, T. V.
Utterback, T. R.
Van Aken, S. E.
Lovley, D. R.
Fraser, C. M.

¹The Institute for Genomic Research, 9712 Medical Center Drive, Rockville, MD 20850, USA. ²Department of Microbiology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01002, USA.

*To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: [email protected]

Supporting Online Material: www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/302/5652/1967/DC1; Materials and Methods; SOM Text; Figs. S1 to S5; Tables S1 to S6; References

3 July 2003; accepted 14 October 2003

Science 302(5652):p 1967-1969, December 12, 2003.

The complete genome sequence of Geobacter sulfurreducens, a δ-proteobacterium, reveals unsuspected capabilities, including evidence of aerobic metabolism, one-carbon and complex carbon metabolism, motility, and chemotactic behavior. These characteristics, coupled with the possession of many two-component sensors and many c-type cytochromes, reveal an ability to create alternative, redundant, electron transport networks and offer insights into the process of metal ion reduction in subsurface environments. As well as playing roles in the global cycling of metals and carbon, this organism clearly has the potential for use in bioremediation of radioactive metals and in the generation of electricity.