Geobacter sulfurreducensKATO ET AL.
Japanese researchers have found that two species of bacteria can use minerals in the soil to transfer electrons over long distances, according to research published today (June 4) in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This creates currents between the species, and turns them into living electrical grids, allowing them to cooperate in breaking down chemicals in their environment that they could not metabolise individually.
The result is a “big step” towards acceptance of the electron as a key element of bacterial life, said Lars Peter Nielsen from Aarhus University, who was not involved in the study. “Microbial electron transfer is no longer just an exotic and marginal topic, but making its way to mainstream microbial ecology.”
Relays of electrons are the stuff of ...
