End-to-end contact enables long-distance electron transport between filaments in cable bacteria.

ABSTRACT: Filamentous cable bacteria are capable of centimeter-scale long-distance electron transport and play crucial roles in the biogeochemistry of aquatic sediments. However, the mechanisms underlying long-distance electron transport remain incompletely understood. This study reports dynamic contacts between separate filaments of cable bacteria, enabling them to relay electrons between sulfidic and oxic zones. Video microscopy of motile filaments in a microchamber slide setup revealed that some filaments did not fully bridge the gap between the sulfidic and oxic zone, but made transient contact with each other. Contacts were always end-to-end and often occurred repeatedly, in which filaments always followed the same trajectory back and forth. The contact frequency gradually increased over the fi

SUBMITTER: Tang R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12449579 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature