Scientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have discovered two species of bacteria that feed on metal, manganese to be specific, by accident.
For nearly a century, scientists have been predicting the existence of such microbes, but they have only been discovered now.
If Marvel’s Magneto can manipulate metal at will, these microscopic organisms possess the power to eat them all, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Jared Leadbetter, a microbiologist, in collaboration with postdoctoral fellow Hang Yu, named the two species of bacteria “Candidatus Manganitrophus noduliformans” and “Ramlibacter lithotrophicus,” according to the scientific journal. Nature.
“These are the first bacteria to use manganese as a fuel source,” Leadbetter says in his findings. They can metabolize seemingly unlikely materials like manganese and release energy that is useful to your cells.
Scientists previously knew that this bacterium could break down pollutants in groundwater through a process called bioremediation. During this process, several key organisms will “reduce” manganese oxide (donate electrons, similar to the way humans use oxygen). For the first time, scientists have an idea where manganese oxide comes from.
Leadbetter had left a dirty glass jar with a light chalk-like manganese shape to soak in tap water in his Caltech office sink for an unrelated experiment. Returning to his office after months, he found the jar covered in a dark substance, according to the Daily science Article.
“I thought, ‘What is that?'” He told the magazine, “I began to wonder if the much sought-after microbes could be responsible, so we systematically tested for it.”
The black coating turned out to be rusty manganese produced by metal-eating bacteria that likely came from tap water, according to the report.
“There is evidence that the relatives of these creatures reside in groundwater, and some of Pasadena’s drinking water is pumped from local aquifers,” he said.
This finding may shed light on why drinking water distribution systems are often clogged with manganese oxides, in the dark and in the form of slums.
“There is a complete set of environmental engineering literature on drinking water distribution systems that become clogged with manganese oxides,” Leadbetter said, Daily science.
“But how and for what reason such material is generated has remained an enigma. Clearly, many scientists have considered that bacteria that use manganese as energy could be responsible, but the evidence supporting this idea was not available until now,” he said. .
“The bacteria we have discovered can produce it, so they enjoy a lifestyle that also serves to provide other microbes with what they need to perform reactions that we consider beneficial and desirable,” says Leadbetter.
The research, funded by Caltech and NASA, may solve the mystery of the manganese modules that dot the seafloor. Grapefruit-sized, these nodules were first seen by HMS Challenger sailors in 1870. In more recent times, mining companies have made plans to harvest and mine these nodules as rare metals are found within.
Leadbetter and Yu now think that similar microbes could be responsible for the formation of these nodules at the bottom of the sea, according to the article. They plan to investigate the matter further, as little is understood about how these nodules form in the first place. “This underscores the need to better understand marine manganese nodules before they are decimated by mining,” said Yu.
Geobiology, a Woodward Fischer professor at Caltech who was not involved in the experiment, also noted: “This discovery by Jared and Hang fills an important intellectual gap in our understanding of Earth’s elemental cycles, and adds to the various ways in which Manganese, an abstruse but common transition metal, has shaped the evolution of life on our planet. “
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