Abstract
The microbial ferrous wheel: iron cycling in terrestrial, freshwater, and marine environments
Highlights
At oceanic hydrothermal vents, and in terrestrial habitats, iron is not a limiting nutrient
In more acidic conditions, such as certain hot springs and acid mine drainage systems, ferrous iron is more stable, concentrations can be in the millmolar range, and specific communities of archaea and bacteria that use iron as an energy source can flourish
Nor does it appear that they are limited to only utilizing soluble ferrous iron as an energy source, but can acquire iron from insoluble minerals that contain reduced iron
Summary
In terrestrial habitats, iron is not a limiting nutrient. At many oxic-anoxic interfacial habitats, is iron not limiting, but it is so abundant that lithotrophic microbes can use it as an electron source to sustain growth, and form robust communities of iron-oxidizing chemolithoautotrophs. Iron-oxidizing microbes are not limited to aerobic habitats, but can oxidize iron under anaerobic conditions by coupling the oxidation to either anoxygenic photosynthesis or nitrate reduction.
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