Microbes and Metals
The interactions of microbes with solid phase electron acceptors is an area of great interest because of the potential use of these types of microorganisms for remediation of environments contaminated with a variety of toxins (ie, metals, radionuclides, chlorinated solvents, aromatics, etc). The mechanisms used by microbes to transfer electrons generated from carbon oxidation onto solid phase iron, manganese or sulfur have not been clearly elucidated and much work remains to be done. Projects in the laboratory are investigating microbe-metal surface interactions using a variety of biochemical and genetic tools to better understand how microbes access solid phase materials.
Undergraduate and graduate students interested in working on a research project are encouraged to contact Dr. Susan Childers at childers@uidaho.edu.