Biomolecular Mechanisms of Iron Oxidation in prokaryotes: a protein focused review.

Protein-level characterization of key Fe(II)-oxidizing enzymes (Cyc2, Cyt572, Cyc2PV-1, sulfocyanin, FoxC, PioAB, MtoAB, and Iro) across diverse prokaryotes remains limited, despite systems-level pathway progress.

• Why it matters: Understanding which proteins oxidize ferrous iron is crucial for explaining iron cycling and for enabling biotechnologies such as bioleaching, wastewater treatment, bioremediation, and bioelectrocatalysis.
• What they did: This review surveys molecular knowledge of these proteins across acidophilic and neutrophilic bacteria and archaea, covering aerobic, anaerobic, and phototrophic strategies, and integrates experimental biochemistry with structural predictions.
• The result: By combining protein structural/cofactor/redox details with computational approaches like molecular dynamics and quantum methods, the work identifies knowledge gaps and supports mechanistic insight for targeted applications.

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