Recent work has established that lanthanides (also called rare earth elements) are acquired and utilized by certain bacteria for essential cellular functions. I will discuss our discovery and characterization of lanmodulin, a protein that recognizes lanthanides with picomolar affinity and millions-fold selectivity over more abundant metal ions such as calcium. A deeper understanding of how these bacteria selectively acquire and use lanthanides may be useful in strategies to detect and concentrate these technologically important metals, and we are seeking collaborations in these areas.
