Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36959175›Full record

ArticleNature communications2023

Cable bacteria with electric connection to oxygen attract flocks of diverse bacteria.

Jesper J Bjerg, Jamie J M Lustermans, Ian P G Marshall, Anna J Mueller, Signe Brokjær, Casper A Thorup, Paula Tataru, Markus Schmid, Michael Wagner, Lars Peter Nielsen and 1 more

Open access · goldFull text read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
24citing papers in PubMed
12.4field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

24 citing papers in PubMed, 50 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Spatial self-organization of confined bacterial suspensions.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025
    Article
  5. Form and function in biological filaments: a physicist's review.Philosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences · 2025
    Review
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Hydrated cable bacteria exhibit protonic conductivity over long distances.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025
    Article
  10. Article
  11. Review
  12. Article
  13. Cable Bacteria and Their Biotechnological Application.Advances in biochemical engineering/biotechnology · 2025
    Review
  14. Review
  15. Review
  16. Article
  17. Review
  18. Review
  19. Review
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.

Jesper J BjergCenter for Electromicrobiology (CEM), Section for Microbiology, Department of Biology, Aarhus University, Aarhus C, Denmark. jjbjerg@bio.au.dk.ORCID 0000-0003-3536-2928
Jamie J M LustermansCenter for Electromicrobiology (CEM), Section for Microbiology, Department of Biology, Aarhus University, Aarhus C, Denmark.ORCID 0000-0001-8657-3771
Ian P G MarshallCenter for Electromicrobiology (CEM), Section for Microbiology, Department of Biology, Aarhus University, Aarhus C, Denmark.
Anna J MuellerCentre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science, Division of Microbial Ecology (DOME), University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.ORCID 0000-0002-9939-5633
Signe BrokjærCenter for Electromicrobiology (CEM), Section for Microbiology, Department of Biology, Aarhus University, Aarhus C, Denmark.
Casper A ThorupCenter for Electromicrobiology (CEM), Section for Microbiology, Department of Biology, Aarhus University, Aarhus C, Denmark.
Paula TataruBioinformatics Research Center (BiRC), Aarhus University, Aarhus C, Denmark.
Markus SchmidCentre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science, Division of Microbial Ecology (DOME), University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Michael WagnerCentre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science, Division of Microbial Ecology (DOME), University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Lars Peter NielsenCenter for Electromicrobiology (CEM), Section for Microbiology, Department of Biology, Aarhus University, Aarhus C, Denmark.ORCID 0000-0002-7269-4860
Andreas SchrammCenter for Electromicrobiology (CEM), Section for Microbiology, Department of Biology, Aarhus University, Aarhus C, Denmark. andreas.schramm@bio.au.dk.ORCID 0000-0002-7614-9616
Aarhus University · DKUniversity of Vienna · ATUniversity of Antwerp · BE

Funding

Austrian Science Fund FWF DOC 69
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Cable bacteria are centimeter-long filamentous bacteria that conduct electrons via internal wires, thus coupling sulfide oxidation in deeper, anoxic sediment with oxygen reduction in surface sediment. This activity induces geochemical changes in the sediment, and other bacterial groups appear to benefit from the electrical connection to oxygen. Here, we report that diverse bacteria swim in a tight flock around the anoxic part of oxygen-respiring cable bacteria and disperse immediately when the connection to oxygen is disrupted (by cutting the cable bacteria with a laser). Raman microscopy shows that flocking bacteria are more oxidized when closer to the cable bacteria, but physical contact seems to be rare and brief, which suggests potential transfer of electrons via unidentified soluble intermediates. Metagenomic analysis indicates that most of the flocking bacteria appear to be aerobes, including organotrophs, sulfide oxidizers, and possibly iron oxidizers, which might transfer electrons to cable bacteria for respiration. The association and close interaction with such diverse partners might explain how oxygen via cable bacteria can affect microbial communities and processes far into anoxic environments.

Indexed as

DeltaproteobacteriaOxygenBacteriaGeologic SedimentsOxidation-ReductionSulfidesOxygenSulfides

Identifiers

PMID36959175
PMCPMC10036481
OpenAlexW4360610771

What OpenQuestion holds

Textfull text, public
LicenceCC BY
measurements read31
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.