Manganese, the second most abundant transition metal in the earth's crust, exists in a number of oxidation states, among which the II, III, and IV oxidation states are of greatest environmental importance. Produced through microbial activity, manganese oxides help to mediate redox reactions with organic and inorganic compounds and help to sequester a variety of metals. The mechanism by which Manganese (II) is oxidized to Manganese (IV) is a biologically catalyzed process. There are at least three different pathways by which Mn(II) can be bacterially oxidized to Mn(IV); the first in which states that Mn(II) can be oxidized to mixed Mn(III, IV), and Mn(IV) oxides and oxyhydroxides. The second of these pathways is that Mn(II) can be directly oxidized to Mn(IV) and the last of these pathways is that Mn(II) follows an enzymatic bond with a Mn(III) intermediate in which Mn(II) oxidizes to Mn(III) and then to Mn(IV). The pathways of focus for this research are the latter two pathways.
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