Division of labor and growth during electrical cooperation in multicellular cable bacteria.

ABSTRACT: Multicellularity is a key evolutionary innovation, leading to coordinated activity and resource sharing among cells, which generally occurs via the physical exchange of chemical compounds. However, filamentous cable bacteria display a unique metabolism in which redox transformations in distant cells are coupled via long-distance electron transport rather than an exchange of chemicals. This challenges our understanding of organismal functioning, as the link among electron transfer, metabolism, energy conservation, and filament growth in cable bacteria remains enigmatic. Here, we show that cells within individual filaments of cable bacteria display a remarkable dichotomy in biosynthesis that coincides with redox zonation. Nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry combined with 13C (bicarbona

SUBMITTER: Geerlings NMJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7071850 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature