Matters Microbial #111: Shocking Tales of Metal-Loving Microbes October 10, 2025

Today 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

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