Using ESR spectroscopy we were able to detect succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) in the whole cells of Shewanella putrefaciens grown aerobically. ESR analysis of cells grown under anaerobic conditions in the presence of fumarate as electron acceptor revealed signals with the same parameters as SDH. However the temperattwe dependence was quite different. Furthermore, the addition of sodium azide led to disappearance of this ESR signal in anaerobic cultures, while the same treatment of aerobic cultures had no effect on the ESR signal of SDH. Based on these results, we postulate that the ESR signal from the anaerobic cells is that of fumarate reductase, similar in its properties to the fumarate reductase from Escherichia coli.