Electric Networks of Infection: How Extracellular Electron Transfer Drives Bacterial Virulence, Biofilm Resilience, and Cross-Species Cooperation

Bacterial pathogenesis research has traditionally centered on canonical metabolic and virulence pathways, yet a critical facet of microbial survival and infection has only recently come into focus — extracellular electron transfer (EET). This process, originally identified in environmental electroactive bacteria, enables electron flow across the bacterial cell envelope to external acceptors. Emerging studies reveal that pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, and Enterococcus faecalis harbor homologous EET systems that are active under the hypoxic and redox-challenged conditions typical of infection sites like wound beds, mucosal surfaces, and abscesses. Within these contexts, electron transfer mechanisms not only sustain bacterial metabolism but also shape biofilm architecture, virulence expression, and interbacterial interactions. Despite rapidly escalating interest, major mechanistic questions remain unresolved, particularly regarding how EET systems are regulated by host cues, how they function in polymicrobial consortia, and how they influence host-pathogen redox dynamics.

This Research Topic aims to establish extracellular electron transfer as a defined molecular pathway underlying bacterial survival, virulence, and community-level interactions in host infection. The goal is to unify advances from molecular microbiology, redox biochemistry, and infection biology to develop a deeper understanding of how EET and its polymicrobial counterpart, Direct Interspecies Electron Transfer (DIET), reframe our conception of microbial pathogenesis. Key objectives include deciphering the structure and function of multi-heme cytochromes and conductive appendages, exploring the thermodynamics of interspecies electron exchange, elucidating the link between EET-driven metal metabolism and virulence regulation, and identifying therapeutic opportunities to inhibit these redox networks. By addressing these aims, this Research Topic seeks to advance a new frontier in microbial pathophysiology with clear translational potential for anti-biofilm and antivirulence strategies.

This Research Topic focuses on the molecular, physiological, and ecological boundaries of EET within host-associated bacterial systems. Purely ecological or bioreactor-centric studies without relevance to infection biology fall outside its scope.

To gather further insights into these boundaries, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:

o Molecular architecture and regulation of EET systems in pathogenic and opportunistic bacteria

o Biofilm electrophysiology and the role of electron flow in antibiotic tolerance and immune evasion

o Mechanistic underpinnings of Direct Interspecies Electron Transfer (DIET) in polymicrobial infections

o EET-mediated metal reduction and nutrient acquisition at the host-pathogen interface

o Redox-active extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and their roles as mediators of intercellular electron flow in infection

o Development and evaluation of inhibitors targeting EET machinery as new anti-biofilm or antivirulence therapies

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Systematic Review

Keywords: extracellular electron transfer, bacterial pathogenesis, polymicrobial infections, biofilm electrophysiology, metal metabolism and virulence

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.