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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, March 2002, p. 1440-1445, Vol. 68, No. 3
0099-2240/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.68.3.1440-1445.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Microbial Iron Respiration Can Protect Steel from Corrosion

M. Dubiel,1 C. H. Hsu,2 C. C. Chien,1 F. Mansfeld,2 and D. K. Newman1*

Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125,1 Corrosion and Environmental Effects Laboratory, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089-02412

Received 11 September 2001/ Accepted 12 December 2001

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.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125. Phone: (626) 395-6790. Fax: (626) 683-0621. E-mail: dkn{at}gps.caltech.edu.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, March 2002, p. 1440-1445, Vol. 68, No. 3
0099-2240/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.68.3.1440-1445.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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