MESSAI.iO

Electrogen · Iron reducer · Manganese reducer

Shewanella putrefaciens

Pseudomonadota · Gammaproteobacteria · Shewanellaceae

ElectroactiveEET outwardBSL-1Partial record
  • Shewanella
  • Electrogen
  • Facultative
  • Tier 2
Outward
Electron transfer
electroactive
25°C
Optimal temperature
grows 4–37 °C
7
Optimal pH
grows pH 5.5–9

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. ›classGammaproteobacteria
  4. ›orderAlteromonadales
  5. ›familyShewanellaceae
  6. ›genusShewanella
  7. ›speciesShewanella putrefaciens

Culture collections & accessions

NCBI taxon
24

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⁻SOLUBLE SHUTTLESe⁻
Electrons flow outward: cell → electrode (exoelectrogen)

Mechanisms

  • Outer-membrane cytochromes: yes
  • Endogenous shuttles: yes

Direct transfer — detail

Notes
Mtr-pathway homologs present; characterization is shallower than for S. oneidensis MR-1.
Completeness
Partial

Mediated transfer — detail

Completeness
Partial

03 · Growth envelope

Growth envelope

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

Facultative anaerobeChemoorganoheterotroph
Temperature25 (4–37) °C
0100 °C
pH7 (5.5–9)
014

Energy metabolism

Electron donors

  • Lactate
  • H2
  • Formate

Electron acceptors

  • O2
  • Fe(III)
  • Mn(IV)
  • Nitrate
  • Anode

Carbon sources

  • Lactate
  • Formate
  • amino acids
  • 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

  • Marine
  • Freshwater
  • Sediment marine
  • Sediment freshwater

Isolation sources

  • spoiled fish, marine sediment

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 (2)

  • Bioelectricity generation
    TRL 3/9
  • Bioremediation metals
    TRL 3/9

Biosafety

BSL-1
  • Pathogen: no

Opportunistic in immunocompromised hosts; routine BSL-1 in research labs.

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 (1)

  • Per-strain electrochemical performance is dispersed across reclassified taxa (S. oneidensis was split from S. putrefaciens MR-1 in 1999).

References (1)

  1. Kim BH, et al. (1999). Direct electrode reaction of Fe(III)-reducing bacterium, Shewanella putrefaciens. J Microbiol Biotechnol 9:127-131.

    supports eet direction, eet mechanism