(Update - Also, Chemistry World!)
Update (11/13/13) - Blog buddy Lila Guterman of Science News has the inside scoop:
"An answer! Authors via
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Fascinating news for the inorganic biochemistry fans out there: Scientists have ID'd a bacterium (Methylacidiphilum fumariolicum) living in highly acidic volcanic pools that seems to use rare earth metals in one of its enzymes. A multinational team modeled the enzyme with a variety of rare earth cores, and the bacterium appeared to selectively take them up in cell culture. Cool!
Just one small problem: What's the counterion?!?
My crack online reporting team has scoured the manuscript, finding only mentions of a mysterious Ce(III), along with triply-oxidized La* and Pr. Nowhere in the Supporting Information do they mention reagents used, and the reporter has confirmed that this subject wasn't broached.
Given the other salts the researchers added to the media, it's likely that they used either cerium (III) sulfate or cerium (III) chloride. However, Sigma-Aldrich sells no less than 10 different cerium (III) salts (Strem has over 20!), and I'm willing to bet they have markedly different bioavailability, oxidation potential, aqueous solubility...the works.
Readers, does anyone know what the cerium source is in this paper?** I certainly don't wish to draw unwarranted conclusions, but we're all still touchy over another recent dust-up having to do with a miraculous trace element.
Please let me know in the comments.
*IUPAC police: Throughout the paper, the authors refer to "Ln ions." Do you suppose they mean La (lanthanum)? Are elements abbreviated differently in other places?
**Interestingly, the authors note that their acidic growth media leached trace rare earths out of the glassware. I've never looked at that as a reaction contaminant, but I guess I'll have to start!
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