ArticleNature communications2021
Efficient long-range conduction in cable bacteria through nickel protein wires.
Article in Nature communications, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 37 papers.
What it found
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The trial behind it
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Who cites it
37 citing papers in PubMed, 78 citations in OpenAlex.
- Model Structures and Electron Transfer Properties of Conductive Nickel-Organic Nanoribbons in Cable Bacteria.The journal of physical chemistry letters · 2026Article
- Highly efficient long-range conduction through a biosynthetic nickel-organic framework.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Charge Injection and Interfiber Electrical Conduction in Cable Bacteria.ACS applied materials & interfaces · 2026Article
- Metagenome-assembled genome sequence ofMicrobiology resource announcements · 2026Article
- The genetic repertoire underlying electrogenic sulphur oxidation in cable bacteria.BMC genomics · 2026Article
- Pullulan Coating Preserves High Conductivity in Cable Bacteria Wires.ACS applied bio materials · 2026Article
- From single step hops to emergent biological phenomena.Journal of inorganic biochemistry · 2026Review
- Mixed Ionic and Electronic Charge Transport in Conductive Protein Fibers Revealed with DC Electrical Measurements.Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) · 2025Article
- Inactive "Ghost" Cells Do Not Affect Motility and Long-Range Electron Transport in Filamentous Cable Bacteria.Environmental microbiology · 2025Article
- A novel cable bacteria species with a distinct morphology and genomic potential.Applied and environmental microbiology · 2025Article
- Analysis of biofilm assembly by large area automated AFM.NPJ biofilms and microbiomes · 2025Article
- Comparison of cable bacteria genera reveals details of their conduction machinery.EMBO reports · 2025Article
- Nickel-Dithiolene Cofactors as Electron Donors and Acceptors in Protein Hosts.The journal of physical chemistry. B · 2025Article
- Electron transfer in multicentre redox proteins: from fundamentals to extracellular electron transfer.Bioscience reports · 2025Review
- A Microbial-Centric View of Mobile Phones: Enhancing the Technological Feasibility of Biotechnological Recovery of Critical Metals.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Multidisciplinary methodologies used in the study of cable bacteria.FEMS microbiology reviews · 2025Review
- Electrical signaling in fungi: past and present challenges.FEMS microbiology reviews · 2025Review
- End-to-end contact enables long-distance electron transport between filaments in cable bacteria.The ISME journal · 2025Article
- Long-Distance Electron Transport in Unicellular Organisms and Biofilms.Reviews of physiology, biochemistry and pharmacology · 2025Review
- Temperature-Dependent Characterization of Long-Range Conduction in Conductive Protein Fibers of Cable Bacteria.ACS nano · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
33 authors at 12 institutions in 7 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Filamentous cable bacteria display long-range electron transport, generating electrical currents over centimeter distances through a highly ordered network of fibers embedded in their cell envelope. The conductivity of these periplasmic wires is exceptionally high for a biological material, but their chemical structure and underlying electron transport mechanism remain unresolved. Here, we combine high-resolution microscopy, spectroscopy, and chemical imaging on individual cable bacterium filaments to demonstrate that the periplasmic wires consist of a conductive protein core surrounded by an insulating protein shell layer. The core proteins contain a sulfur-ligated nickel cofactor, and conductivity decreases when nickel is oxidized or selectively removed. The involvement of nickel as the active metal in biological conduction is remarkable, and suggests a hitherto unknown form of electron transport that enables efficient conduction in centimeter-long protein structures.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.