Matters Microbial #111: Shocking Tales of Metal-Loving Microbes
Update: 2025-10-10
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Matters Microbial #111: Shocking Tales of Metal-Loving Microbes
October 10, 2025Today Dr. Jeff Gralnick, Professor of the Department of Plant and Microbial Sciences at the University of Minnesota joins the #QualityQuorum to tell us a shocking story about how his research group studies the relationship between electrons, microbes, and metals.
Host: Mark O. Martin
Guest: Jeff Gralnick
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Links for this episode
- An article about Nobel Prize winner Albert Szent-Györgyi.
- The Soudan Formation Iron Mine discussed during the podcast.
- An article on Banded Iron Formations.
- An article about the Oxygen Crisis early in Earth’s history.
- An overview of the bacterium Shewanella.
- An overview of the bacterium Geobacter.
- An overview of microbial redox reactions.
- The “bacterial battery” we discussed: the Mudwatt.
- An article on benthic microbial fuel cells.
- An article on extracellular electron transfer by bacteria.
- The laboratory of Dr. Daniel Bond at the University of Minnesota, and colleague of Dr. Gralnick’s.
- An essay on microbial nanowires.
- An essay on cable bacteria, which was the topic of #MattersMicrobial podcast #101 with Dr. Nicole Geerlings.
- The new field of electromicrobiology.
- The relationship between Shewanella and fish! An article by Dr. Gralnick and colleagues on the Shewanella and fish (and bacteriophage) association.
- The article about Jon Beckwith (by Howard Shuman) discussed in the podcast: “With Toothpicks and Logic.”
- Dr. Gralnick’s faculty website.
- Dr. Gralnick’s laboratory website.
Intro music is by Reber Clark
Send your questions and comments to mattersmicrobial@gmail.com
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