title: Electron mediators accelerate the microbiologically influenced corrosion of 304 stainless steel by the Desulfovibrio vulgaris biofilm.
abstract: In the microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) caused by sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB), iron oxidation happens outside sessile cells while the utilization of the electrons released by the oxidation process for sulfate reduction occurs in the SRB cytoplasm. Thus, cross-cell wall electron transfer is needed. It can only be achieved by electrogenic biofilms. This work hypothesized that the electron transfer is a bottleneck in MIC by SRB. To prove this, MIC tests were carried out using 304 stainless steel coupons covered with the Desulfovibrio vulgaris (ATCC 7757) biofilm in the ATCC 1249 medium. It was found that both riboflavin and flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD), two common electron mediators that enhance electron transfer, accelerated pitting corrosion and weight loss on the coupons when 10ppm (w/w) of either of them was added to the culture medium in 7-day anaerobic lab tests. This finding has important implications in MIC forensics and biofilm synergy in MIC that causes billions of dollars of damages to the US industry each year.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Institute for Corrosion and Multiphase Technology, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, United States.
authors.forename: Peiyu
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 72 Wenhua Road, Shenyang 110016, China. Electronic address: xudake@imr.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Dake
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Institute for Corrosion and Multiphase Technology, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, United States.
authors.forename: Yingchao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 72 Wenhua Road, Shenyang 110016, China.
authors.forename: Ke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Institute for Corrosion and Multiphase Technology, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, United States. Electronic address: gu@ohio.edu.
authors.forename: Tingyue
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gu
mesh_terms: D018441:Biofilms / Q000187:drug effects; D003343:Corrosion; D016969:Desulfovibrio vulgaris / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D004583:Electrons; D005182:Flavin-Adenine Dinucleotide / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010933:Plankton / Q000382:microbiology; D012256:Riboflavin / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D013193:Stainless Steel / Q000737:chemistry; D013431:Sulfates / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D013431:Sulfates; D013193:Stainless Steel; D005182:Flavin-Adenine Dinucleotide; D012256:Riboflavin
keywords: Biocorrosion; Biofilm; Electron mediator; Electron transfer; SRB