Microbial corrosion of metals: The corrosion microbiome

Yassir Lekbach; Tao Liu; Yingchao Li; Masoumeh Moradi; Wenwen Dou; Dake Xu; Jessica A Smith; Derek R Lovley

doi:10.1016/bs.ampbs.2021.01.002

Microbial corrosion of metals: The corrosion microbiome

Adv Microb Physiol. 2021:78:317-390. doi: 10.1016/bs.ampbs.2021.01.002. Epub 2021 Mar 2.

Authors

Yassir Lekbach¹, Tao Liu², Yingchao Li³, Masoumeh Moradi¹, Wenwen Dou⁴, Dake Xu⁵, Jessica A Smith⁶, Derek R Lovley⁷

Affiliations

¹ Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, Northeastern University, Shenyang, China; Electrobiomaterials Institute, Key Laboratory for Anisotropy and Texture of Materials (Ministry of Education), Northeastern University, Shenyang, China.
² College of Ocean Science and Engineering, Shanghai Maritime University, Shanghai, China.
³ Beijing Key Laboratory of Failure, Corrosion and Protection of Oil/Gas Facility Materials, College of New Energy and Materials, China University of Petroleum-Beijing, Beijing, China.
⁴ Institute of Marine Science and Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, China.
⁵ Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, Northeastern University, Shenyang, China; Electrobiomaterials Institute, Key Laboratory for Anisotropy and Texture of Materials (Ministry of Education), Northeastern University, Shenyang, China. Electronic address: xudake@mail.neu.edu.cn.
⁶ Department of Biomolecular Sciences, Central Connecticut State University, New Britain, CT, United States.
⁷ Electrobiomaterials Institute, Key Laboratory for Anisotropy and Texture of Materials (Ministry of Education), Northeastern University, Shenyang, China; Department of Microbiology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, United States. Electronic address: dlovley@umass.edu.

PMID: 34147188
DOI: 10.1016/bs.ampbs.2021.01.002

Abstract

Microbially catalyzed corrosion of metals is a substantial economic concern. Aerobic microbes primarily enhance Fe⁰ oxidation through indirect mechanisms and their impact appears to be limited compared to anaerobic microbes. Several anaerobic mechanisms are known to accelerate Fe⁰ oxidation. Microbes can consume H₂ abiotically generated from the oxidation of Fe⁰. Microbial H₂ removal makes continued Fe⁰ oxidation more thermodynamically favorable. Extracellular hydrogenases further accelerate Fe⁰ oxidation. Organic electron shuttles such as flavins, phenazines, and possibly humic substances may replace H₂ as the electron carrier between Fe⁰ and cells. Direct Fe⁰-to-microbe electron transfer is also possible. Which of these anaerobic mechanisms predominates in model pure culture isolates is typically poorly documented because of a lack of functional genetic studies. Microbial mechanisms for Fe⁰ oxidation may also apply to some other metals. An ultimate goal of microbial metal corrosion research is to develop molecular tools to diagnose the occurrence, mechanisms, and rates of metal corrosion to guide the implementation of the most effective mitigation strategies. A systems biology approach that includes innovative isolation and characterization methods, as well as functional genomic investigations, will be required in order to identify the diagnostic features to be gleaned from meta-omic analysis of corroding materials. A better understanding of microbial metal corrosion mechanisms is expected to lead to new corrosion mitigation strategies. The understanding of the corrosion microbiome is clearly in its infancy, but interdisciplinary electrochemical, microbiological, and molecular tools are available to make rapid progress in this field.

Keywords: Biocorrosion; Corrosion mechanisms; Electromicrobiology; Electron shuttle; Extracellular electron transfer; Extracellular hydrogenase; Iron corrosion; Metal-oxidizing bacteria; Microbially influenced corrosion; Sulfate-reducing bacteria.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Corrosion
Electron Transport
Metals*
Microbiota*
Oxidation-Reduction

Substances

Metals