The hidden chemolithoautotrophic metabolism of Geobacter sulfurreducens uncovered by adaptation to formate.

Multiple Fe(III)-reducing Geobacter species including the model Geobacter sulfurreducens are thought to be incapable of carbon dioxide fixation. The discovery of the reversed oxidative tricarboxylic acid cycle (roTCA) for CO reduction with citrate synthase as key enzyme raises the possibility that G. sulfurreducens harbors the metabolic potential for chemolithoautotrophic growth. We investigate this hypothesis by transferring G. sulfurreducens PCA serially with Fe(III) as electron acceptor and formate as electron donor and carbon source. The evolved strain T17-3 grew chemolithoautotrophically with a 2.7-fold population increase over 48 h and a Fe(III) reduction rate of 417.5 μM h. T17-3 also grew with CO as carbon source. Mutations in T17-3 and enzymatic assays point to an adaptation process where the succinyl-CoA synthetase, which is inactive in the wild-type, became active to complete the roTCA cycle. Deletion of the genes coding for the succinyl-CoA synthetase in T17-3 prevented growth with formate as substrate. Enzymatic assays also showed that the citrate synthase can perform the necessary cleavage of citrate for the functional roTCA cycle. These results demonstrate that G. sulfurreducens after adaptation reduced CO via the roTCA cycle. This previously hidden metabolism can be harnessed for biotechnological applications and suggests hidden ecological functions for Geobacter.