Electromagnetic induction properties of filamentous bacteria in sediment.

ABSTRACT: Microbial perception of spatial electromagnetic fields is essential for navigation and communication on Earth's surface system, but current understanding of this phenomenon is limited. At present, cable bacteria of the Desulfobulbaceae family have the longest known range of electron transport. In fact, the flow of electrons along these long filamentous bacteria generates an external electrostatic field, suggesting a potential for electromagnetic induction mirroring that of metallic wires. In this study, we measured the responses of cable bacteria to externally applied electric waves. We noted the formation and disappearance of square waves caused by a pair of spatially variable electric fields, generating negative and positive mirror-symmetric inductions (±1.20 mV in marine sediment) along

SUBMITTER: Kang F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11787994 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature