Requirement for a Microbial Consortium To Completely Oxidize Glucose in Fe(III)-Reducing Sediments

In various sediments in which Fe(III) reduction was the terminal electron-accepting process, [C]glucose was fermented to C-fatty acids in a manner similar to that observed in methanogenic sediments. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that, in Fe(III)-reducing sediments, fermentable substrates are oxidized to carbon dioxide by the combined activity of fermentative bacteria and fatty acid-oxidizing, Fe(III)-reducing bacteria.