Geobacter-Clostridium graph: separate inferred electron transfer from conditional product shifts #1478

CommunityMech:000031, Geobacter_Clostridium_Interspecies_Electron_Transfer_Coculture; PMID:28287150 and PMID:34939136.

Source-based self-adversarial finding, not independent approval. The 2017 main text, Methods, Table 1 and embedded captions distinguish qPCR-derived growth and measured fermentation products from an inferred electron balance. The <0.6% estimate assumes acetate as the Geobacter donor, 10% electron allocation to biomass and transfer of the remainder. It is not a direct electron-uptake measurement. Only two of four initial cocultures supported significant Geobacter growth; the quoted +37% PDO/+38% butyrate and -16% butanol/-20% ethanol shifts describe those responsive cultures at 72 h. Eight of twelve subsequent cultures responded; regressions use responders. Clostridium biomass decreased, so MUTUALISM is not established by industrially useful products.

The follow-up abstract explicitly calls the original IET explanation an assumption and proposes a putative cobamide model. Its subscription-only full body was not obtained; the previously reported cell-free spent-medium result must remain unverified. The current controversy also incorrectly promotes proposed nanowire heterogeneity to observation and says the already-renamed file still says DIET.

Acceptance: retain the positive conditional product shift; qualify the existing acetate-oxidation/electron-transfer mechanism and retained upstream arrow as HYPOTHESIZED/PARTIAL; distinguish growth estimates from flux measurement, remove unsupported mutual-benefit/syntrophy typing, and use exact canonical participants. Merge the duplicate product-outcome node into the measured fermentation node and remove its tautological arrow. Correct affected discussion anchors and the stale controversy rationale. Preserve all non-graph raw blocks and prior history, while explicitly not certifying their stronger claims. Add focused tests, append-only history, generated page, all-node/all-arrow decisions and actual validation outputs.

Dedup: 793 all-state issue titles/bodies and ignored/hidden-inclusive local reports, research, history, tests, scripts and workflows searched. Bodies of #256, #295, #289 and #306 read. #256/#262 re-scoped the contact route; #295 corrected generic-background support but explicitly left the study-scope explanation and asserted uptake quantification. This finding addresses those remaining causal and conditional-sampling claims, not those completed fixes. Not all comments or PR reviews were inspected. No figure images, separate supplements, raw data or analysis code audited. No new causal structure or paid research required for this repair.