Shewanella's electricity conducting wires built differently from common bacterial hairs
These long tendrils grown by Shewanella bacteria are built to conduct electricity like a wire rather than sense surfaces like a hair. Image courtesy of University of Southern California.
one of one
RICHLAND, Wash. - Some bacteria shoot out tendrils that conduct electricity. Now, researchers have determined the structure of one variety of bacterial nanowire, and found the wires are distinct from common bacterial hairs that they closely resemble.
The results will help scientists understand how bacteria build up or break down minerals, and help researchers harness the bacteria to make microbial fuel cells, batteries, or to turn waste into electricity.
Appearing later this week online at the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition, the work was led by Moh El-Naggar at the University of Southern California. Contributors included researchers from the D.O.E.'s Pacific Northwest National Lab, Penn State, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute.
To determine what the nanowires are made of, researchers used genetics and molecular biology to narrow down the proteins involved. They found that rather than the expected bacterial hair proteins, the nanowires comprised specialized proteins called cytochromes that shuttle electrons. PNNL researchers helped make the cytochromes fluoresce in cells, allowing the team to show they are located in the wires.
This work was supported by the Air Force, the D.O.E. Office of Science, and the National Institutes of Health.
Reference: Sahand Pirbadian, Sarah E. Barchinger, Kar Man Leung, Hye Suk Byun, Yamini Jangir, Rachida A. Bouhenni, Samantha B. Reed, Margaret F. Romine, Daad A. Saffarini, Liang Shi, Yuri A. Gorby, John H. Golbeck, and Mohamed Y. El-Naggar. Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 nanowires are outer membrane and periplasmic extensions of the extracellular electron transport components, Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, Early Edition online the week of August 18-22, 2014, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1410551111.
Interdisciplinary teams at Pacific Northwest National Lab address many of America's most pressing issues in energy, the environment and national security through advances in basic and applied science. Founded in 1965, PNNL employs 4,300 staff and has an yearly budget of about $950 million. It is managed by Battelle for the D.O.E.'s Office of Science. As the single biggest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, the Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information on PNNL, visit the PNNL News Center, or follow PNNL on Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn and Twitter.
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