November 20, 2023
A new manuscript by Jung, Su, Inaba, West, and Banta describes the overexpression of the rare earth element (REE) binding protein lanmodulin and the beta roll forming RTX domain in A. ferrooxidans. Lanmoduin has higher affinity for REEs while the RTX domain has increased binding capacity. This enables the cells to bind and recover REEs from solution and from a synthetic magnet leachate. The new results were published in ACS Environmental Science & Technology.