Which bacterium can generate electricity while transferring electrons to minerals outside its cell?

Geobacter sulfurreducens can generate electricity while transferring electrons to minerals outside its cell.

This anaerobic bacterium obtains energy by oxidizing organic compounds and passing electrons to external electron acceptors, including insoluble iron minerals. It uses conductive structures and surface-associated proteins to move electrons beyond the cell.

Researchers study it in microbial fuel cells, where the released electrons can flow through an electrode and produce an electrical current. The same biology is relevant to bioremediation because Geobacter species can alter the chemical forms and mobility of metals and contaminants in underground environments.

Geobacter sulfurreducens is not a battery in the everyday sense, and it does not create electricity from nothing. Its current comes from normal cellular metabolism, with an electrode or mineral serving as the final electron acceptor. Shewanella oneidensis is another well-known electroactive bacterium, but it uses different and overlapping extracellular electron-transfer strategies.