Published March 2002 | Published
Journal Article Open

Microbial Iron Respiration Can Protect Steel from Corrosion

Abstract

Microbiologically influenced corrosion (MC) of steel has been attributed to the activity of biofilms that include anaerobic microorganisms such as iron-respiring bacteria, yet the mechanisms by which these organisms influence corrosion have been unclear. To study this process, we generated mutants of the iron-respiring bacterium Shewanella oneidensis strain MR-1 that were defective in biofilm formation and/or iron reduction. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy was used to determine changes in the corrosion rate and corrosion potential as a function of time for these mutants in comparison to the wild type. Counter to prevailing theories of MC, our results indicate that biofilms comprising iron-respiring bacteria may reduce rather than accelerate the corrosion rate of steel. Corrosion inhibition appears to be due to reduction of ferric ions to ferrous ions and increased consumption of oxygen, both of which are direct consequences of microbial respiration.

Additional Information

© 2002, American Society for Microbiology. Received 11 September 2001/ Accepted 12 December 2001 We thank G. Rossman and E. Arredondo for help with mineral identification, P. Watnick for providing V. cholerae strain El Tor N16961, and J. Huang and R. Kolter for contributions to earlier versions of this work. Preliminary sequence data were obtained from The Institute for Genomic Research website at http://www.tigr.org. Sequencing of S. oneidensis was accomplished with support from the Department of Energy. Support was provided by a grant from the Office of Naval Research to D.K.N.

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