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Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Environmental Microbiology Reports

Phototrophic Fe(II)‐Oxidizers Can Use Multiple (In)Organic Substrates Simultaneously

  • Verena Nikeleit1,2
  • Giorgio Bianchini3,4
  • Jimena C. Lopez‐Rivoldi1
  • Marie Mergenthaler1
  • Josia Reinhold1
  • Patricia Sanchez‐Baracaldo3
  • James M. Byrne5
  • Andreas Kappler1,6
  • Casey Bryce5
6 affiliations
  1. 1Department of Geoscience University of Tübingen Tübingen Germany
  2. 2NORCE Norwegian Research AS Bergen Norway
  3. 3School of Geographical Sciences University of Bristol Bristol UK
  4. 4Department of Life Sciences University of Bath Bath UK
  5. 5School of Earth Sciences University of Bristol Bristol UK
  6. 6Cluster of Excellence: EXC 2124: Controlling Microbes to Fight Infections Tübingen Germany
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Abstract

Anoxygenic phototrophs are metabolically flexible bacteria. However, it is unclear how Fe(II) oxidation is affected by the simultaneous availability of organic or inorganic substrates. We therefore cultivated six green‐ and purple non‐sulfur photoferrotrophs from freshwater and marine environments with 2 mM Fe(II), amended with 0.6 mM organic co‐substrate or H2. We found that photoferrotrophs generally utilized organics and Fe(II) simultaneously, and that two marine strains preferred Fe(II) over H2. For some photoferrotrophs, Fe(II) oxidation rates were significantly enhanced by acetate, lactate, and glucose, whereas H2 typically slowed Fe(II) oxidation. All phototrophic Fe(II)‐oxidizers oxidized 80%–100% of the Fe(II) by the end of the experiment except for R. robiginosum , where Fe(II) oxidation reached only 52%–73%. We further observed for the first time that R. palustris TIE‐1 can grow with butyrate and glucose and that R. iodosum can utilize glucose. Comparison of genomic predictions with experimentally observed substrate consumption revealed discrepancies in four strains. Overall, our results demonstrate that Fe(II) remains an important electron donor despite the availability of alternative substrates, suggesting that maintaining photoferrotrophy is a common trait of photoferrotrophs and likely contributes to iron cycling in natural environments.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{nikeleit2026phototrophic,
  title = {{Phototrophic Fe(II)‐Oxidizers Can Use Multiple (In)Organic Substrates Simultaneously}},
  author = {Verena Nikeleit and Giorgio Bianchini and Jimena C. Lopez‐Rivoldi and Marie Mergenthaler and Josia Reinhold and Patricia Sanchez‐Baracaldo and James M. Byrne and Andreas Kappler and Casey Bryce},
  journal = {Environmental Microbiology Reports},
  year = {2026},
  month = nov,
  doi = {10.1111/1758-2229.70428},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-2229.70428},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Phototrophic Fe(II)‐Oxidizers Can Use Multiple (In)Organic Substrates Simultaneously
AU  - Verena Nikeleit
AU  - Giorgio Bianchini
AU  - Jimena C. Lopez‐Rivoldi
AU  - Marie Mergenthaler
AU  - Josia Reinhold
AU  - Patricia Sanchez‐Baracaldo
AU  - James M. Byrne
AU  - Andreas Kappler
AU  - Casey Bryce
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/11/04
JO  - Environmental Microbiology Reports
DO  - 10.1111/1758-2229.70428
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-2229.70428
AB  - Anoxygenic phototrophs are metabolically flexible bacteria. However, it is unclear how Fe(II) oxidation is affected by the simultaneous availability of organic or inorganic substrates. We therefore cultivated six green‐ and purple non‐sulfur photoferrotrophs from freshwater and marine environments with 2 mM Fe(II), amended with 0.6 mM organic co‐substrate or H2. We found that photoferrotrophs generally utilized organics and Fe(II) simultaneously, and that two marine strains preferred Fe(II) over H2. For some photoferrotrophs, Fe(II) oxidation rates were significantly enhanced by acetate, lactate, and glucose, whereas H2 typically slowed Fe(II) oxidation. All phototrophic Fe(II)‐oxidizers oxidized 80%–100% of the Fe(II) by the end of the experiment except for R. robiginosum , where Fe(II) oxidation reached only 52%–73%. We further observed for the first time that R. palustris TIE‐1 can grow with butyrate and glucose and that R. iodosum can utilize glucose. Comparison of genomic predictions with experimentally observed substrate consumption revealed discrepancies in four strains. Overall, our results demonstrate that Fe(II) remains an important electron donor despite the availability of alternative substrates, suggesting that maintaining photoferrotrophy is a common trait of photoferrotrophs and likely contributes to iron cycling in natural environments.
SN  - 1758-2229
ER  -