Anaerobic corrosion of steel wire by Geoalkalibacter ferrihydriticus under alkaline autotrophic conditions

ABSTRACT Microbially induced corrosion (MIC), caused by iron-cycling microorganisms that directly uptake electrons from metallic iron, is a serious economic and environmental problem. Iron corrosion is inhibited at pH above 9.0 in the presence of carbonate by the formation of a passivating film, but the possibility of direct oxidation of metallic iron by anaerobic alkaliphiles has not been thoroughly investigated. This bioinduced process may pose a serious environmental hazard under anaerobic alkaline conditions of underground radioactive waste disposal in metal containers with bentonite clays. We used Geoalkalibacter ferrihydriticus , an anaerobic iron-cycling bacterium capable of both dissimilatory iron reduction and anaerobic iron oxidation, as a model organism to investigate the microbial ability to utilize Fe 0 from steel wire as an electron donor under anaerobic autotrophic conditions at pH 9.5. During bacterial growth, corrosion of the steel wire was induced and accompanied by intense H 2 production and precipitation of a solid phase. Mössbauer spectroscopy revealed that green rust with siderite admixture was the major mineral formed during Fe oxidation. Protons appeared to be the only thermodynamically favorable electron acceptor for G. ferrihydriticus . Their reduction could lead to hydrogen production. Genomic analysis supported the proposal of such a metabolic mode for the organism. Thus, we have shown that MIC can be realized under anaerobic alkaline conditions by iron-cycling microorganisms in the absence of organic substrates. Microbial hydrogen production may facilitate the further development of authigenic microflora, which could further increase corrosion in radioactive waste repositories and reduce the barrier properties of bentonite clays. IMPORTANCE Microbially induced corrosion (MIC) is a problem with significant economic damage. MIC processes occurring under anaerobic conditions at neutral pH have been actively studied over the last decades. Meanwhile, MIC processes under anaerobic alkaline conditions remain very poorly understood, although they represent a serious environmental problem, as such conditions are characteristic of the geological disposal of nuclear waste stored in metal containers isolated by clays. Our studies of the corrosion of steel by the anaerobic iron-cycling bacterium Geoalkalibacter ferrihydriticus at pH 9.5 in the absence of any organic matter have shown that this process is possible and can be accompanied by the active release of hydrogen. The formation of this gas can trigger the development of an authigenic anaerobic microflora that uses it as an electron donor and can negatively affect the insulating properties of the clay barrier through microbial metabolic activity.