Electrotroph

An electrotroph is a microorganism which can receive electrons necessary for its growth from an electrode (power supply) terminal.

The chemolithoautotrophic bacterium Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, that lives in ocean thermal vents, has been shown to exhibit electrotrophic behavior in experiments.^[1] In particular, it switches the electron source for carbon assimilation from diffusible Fe²⁺
ions to an electrode under the condition that electrical current is the only source of energy and electrons.^[2]

References

^ Chemolithoautotrophic Bacteria: Biochemistry and environmental biology, by Tateo Yamanaka, 2008, Springer: section 5.1.3 (p.100) "Various Growth Aspects of Acidithiobacillus Ferrooxidans"
^ Ishii, Takumi; Kawaichi, Satoshi; Nakagawa, Hirotaka; Hashimoto, Kazuhito; Nakamura, Ryuhei (2015). "From chemolithoautotrophs to electrolithoautotrophs: CO2 fixation by Fe(II)-oxidizing bacteria coupled with direct uptake of electrons from solid electron sources". Frontiers in Microbiology. 6: 994. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2015.00994. PMC 4593280. PMID 26500609.

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[1] Chemolithoautotrophic Bacteria: Biochemistry and environmental biology, by Tateo Yamanaka, 2008, Springer: section 5.1.3 (p.100) "Various Growth Aspects of Acidithiobacillus Ferrooxidans"

[2] Ishii, Takumi; Kawaichi, Satoshi; Nakagawa, Hirotaka; Hashimoto, Kazuhito; Nakamura, Ryuhei (2015). "From chemolithoautotrophs to electrolithoautotrophs: CO2 fixation by Fe(II)-oxidizing bacteria coupled with direct uptake of electrons from solid electron sources". Frontiers in Microbiology. 6: 994. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2015.00994. PMC 4593280. PMID 26500609.

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