Publication
Title
Long-distance electron transport in individual, living cable bacteria
Author
Abstract
Electron transport within living cells is essential for energy conservation in all respiring and photosynthetic organisms. While a few bacteria transport electrons over micrometer distances to their surroundings, filaments of cable bacteria are hypothesized to conduct electric currents over centimeter distances. We used resonance Raman microscopy to analyze cytochrome redox states in living cable bacteria. Cable-bacteria filaments were placed in microscope chambers with sulfide as electron source and oxygen as electron sink at opposite ends. Along individual filaments a gradient in cytochrome redox potential was detected, which immediately broke down upon removal of oxygen or laser cutting of the filaments. Without access to oxygen, a rapid shift toward more reduced cytochromes was observed, as electrons were no longer drained from the filament but accumulated in the cellular cytochromes. These results provide direct evidence for long-distance electron transport in living multicellular bacteria.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. - Washington, D.C.
AMERICA
Publication
Washington, D.C. : 2018
ISSN
0027-8424 [Print]
1091-6490 [Online]
DOI
10.1073/PNAS.1800367115
Volume/pages
115 :22 (2018) , p. 5786-5791
ISI
000433283700069
Pubmed ID
29735671
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (publisher's version - intranet only)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Project info
COULOMBUS: Electric Currents in Sediment and Soil
PHAROS: Photocatalytic Generation of CarbAnions for Organic Synthesis
SEDBIOGEOCHEM 2.0: Hardwiring the ocean floor: the impact of microbial electrical circuitry on biogeochemical cycling in marine sediments
NITRICARE: Nitrification Reloaded - a Single Cell Approach
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 12.06.2018
Last edited 09.10.2023
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