Bacteria have evolved on earth for billions of years and have managed to colonize all ecological niches. Their metabolic diversity is so vast that they play a major role in the biogeochemical cycles of our planet. Understanding the mechanisms by which bacteria interact with the first interfacial layers of the solid matter that surrounds them is an important issue with many perspectives in both fundamental and applied science. Researchers from the LPS opted to work with thin iron films, with a surface area of centimeters and a thickness of nanometers.
A first study, published in 2021, shows how Shewanella oneidensis, some mutants and other species enable corrosion on iron nanofilms.