MESSAI.iO

Electrogen · Iron reducer

Rhodoferax ferrireducens T118

Pseudomonadota · Betaproteobacteria · Comamonadaceae

ElectroactiveEET outwardType strainBSL-1Partial record
  • Electrogen
  • Psychrophile
  • Sugar oxidizer
  • Tier 2
Outward
Electron transfer
electroactive
25°C
Optimal temperature
grows 4–30 °C
7
Optimal pH
grows pH 5.5–8

01 · Identity

Identity

Where this organism sits in the tree of life, how to obtain it, and what a cell looks like.

Lineage

  1. domainBacteria
  2. ›phylumPseudomonadota
  3. ›classBetaproteobacteria
  4. ›orderBurkholderiales
  5. ›familyComamonadaceae
  6. ›genusRhodoferax
  7. ›speciesRhodoferax ferrireducens T118

Culture collections & accessions

NCBI taxon
338969
Status
Type strain

Cell morphology

Rod, Gram-negative (diderm)

  • Motile: yes

02 · Electron transfer

Electron transfer

How electrons cross the cell envelope — the property that makes a microbe useful in an electrochemical system.

ElectroactiveEET outward
CELLELECTRODEOUTER-MEMBRANE CYTOCHROMESe⁻
Electrons flow outward: cell → electrode (exoelectrogen)

Mechanisms

  • Outer-membrane cytochromes: yes

Direct transfer — detail

Notes
Rare among electrogens in being able to oxidize sugars directly to electrode current without fermentation byproducts.
Completeness
Partial

03 · Growth envelope

Growth envelope

The conditions this organism tolerates and what it eats and breathes — the operating window for a reactor.

PsychrophileFacultative anaerobeChemoorganoheterotroph
Temperature25 (4–30) °C
0100 °C
pH7 (5.5–8)
014

Energy metabolism

Electron donors

  • Glucose
  • Acetate

Electron acceptors

  • Fe(III)
  • Anode
  • Fumarate
  • Mn(IV)

Carbon sources

  • Glucose
  • Fructose
  • Sucrose
  • Xylose
  • Acetate
  • Respiratory: yes

04 · Performance

Performance

Reported electrochemical output, the role it plays in a reactor, and what it produces.

Role in a reactor

Anode chamberAnode: primary current producer

05 · Ecology & biofilm

Ecology & biofilm

How it lives on an electrode, who it partners with, and where it is found in nature.

Ecosystems

  • Sediment freshwater
  • Subsurface

06 · Applications, engineering & safety

Applications, engineering & safety

Where it has been put to work, how tractable it is to engineer, and what handling it requires.

Applications (1)

  • Bioelectricity generation
    TRL 3/9

Biosafety

BSL-1
  • Pathogen: no

07 · Sources & data quality

Sources & data quality

Every value above traces to a citation. This is how complete and how confident the record is.

Record quality

PartialMedium confidenceCurated: manual

Literature reviewed 2026-05-13 · schema v1.3.0 · updated 2026-05-13 · imported 2026-05-13

Open data gaps (2)

  • Power densities reported in Chaudhuri & Lovley 2003 (~33 mW/m2) are low by modern standards; community is sparse.
  • Cytochrome inventory not mapped to Geobacter/Shewanella depth.

References (2)

  1. Chaudhuri SK, Lovley DR (2003). Electricity generation by direct oxidation of glucose in mediatorless microbial fuel cells. Nat Biotechnol 21:1229-1232.doi:10.1038/nbt867
  2. Finneran KT, et al. (2003). Rhodoferax ferrireducens sp. nov., a psychrotolerant, facultatively anaerobic bacterium. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 53:669-673.doi:10.1099/ijs.0.02298-0