Why methanol-oxidizing bacteria love lanthanides

Abstract

Microbiology Although the lanthanide elements are not rare in Earth's crust, they are highly insoluble and difficult to separate. A biological role for these elements has therefore seemed implausible, but recent findings challenge this belief. In a Perspective, Skovran and Martinez-Gomez explain that some methanol-using bacteria contain an enzyme for methanol oxidation that is active only when lanthanide ions are present in the growth medium. Related enzymes have been found in other bacteria, suggesting a wider role of lanthanides in bacterial methanol oxidation. Further insight into the biological role of lanthanides may help toward developing bioremediation for lanthanide mining sites or allow the growth of new species in the lab. Science , this issue p. [862][1] [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aaa9091