Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39818215›Full record

ArticleCell chemical biology2025

A widespread and ancient bacterial machinery assembles cytochrome OmcS nanowires essential for extracellular electron transfer.

Cong Shen, Aldo I Salazar-Morales, Wonhyeuk Jung, Joey Erwin, Yangqi Gu, Anthony Coelho, Kallol Gupta, Sibel Ebru Yalcin, Fadel A Samatey, Nikhil S Malvankar

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Cell chemical biology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

6 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Expression and Engineering of Conductive Cytochrome Nanowires.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. 50 Years of Giese Reaction - a Personal View.Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English) · 2026
    Review
  4. Frontiers in microbiology · 2026
    Review
  5. Article
  6. Review
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

10 authors.

Cong ShenMicrobial Sciences Institute, Yale University, West Haven, CT 06516, USA; Department of Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA; Department of Microbial Pathogenesis, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06536, USA. Electronic address: cong.shen@yale.edu.
Aldo I Salazar-MoralesMicrobial Sciences Institute, Yale University, West Haven, CT 06516, USA; Department of Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA.
Wonhyeuk JungDepartment of Cell Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA; Nanobiology Institute, Yale University, West Haven, CT 06516, USA.
Joey ErwinMicrobial Sciences Institute, Yale University, West Haven, CT 06516, USA; Department of Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA.
Yangqi GuMicrobial Sciences Institute, Yale University, West Haven, CT 06516, USA; Department of Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA.
Anthony CoelhoMicrobial Sciences Institute, Yale University, West Haven, CT 06516, USA; Department of Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA.
Kallol GuptaDepartment of Cell Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA; Nanobiology Institute, Yale University, West Haven, CT 06516, USA.
Sibel Ebru YalcinMicrobial Sciences Institute, Yale University, West Haven, CT 06516, USA; Department of Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA.
Fadel A SamateyMicrobial Sciences Institute, Yale University, West Haven, CT 06516, USA; Department of Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA.
Nikhil S MalvankarMicrobial Sciences Institute, Yale University, West Haven, CT 06516, USA; Department of Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA. Electronic address: nikhil.malvankar@yale.edu.

Funding

Targeting bacterial infections by imaging electrical interactions between host surface pathogensDP2AI138259 · NIAID · YALE UNIVERSITY · PI MALVANKAR, NIKHIL · 2017 to 2017
$2.5M
Understanding organization of membrane proteins and lipids through lipid vesicle native mass spectrometryR01GM141192 · NIGMS · YALE UNIVERSITY · PI GUPTA, KALLOL · 2021 to 2025
$1.9M
NIAID NIH HHS DP2 AI138259NIGMS NIH HHS R01 GM141192
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Microbial extracellular electron transfer (EET) drives various globally important environmental phenomena and has biotechnology applications. Diverse prokaryotes have been proposed to perform EET via surface-displayed "nanowires" composed of multi-heme cytochromes. However, the mechanism that enables only a few cytochromes to polymerize into nanowires is unclear. Here, we identify a highly conserved omcS-companion (osc) cluster that drives the formation of cytochrome OmcS nanowires in Geobacter sulfurreducens. Through a combination of genetic, biochemical, and biophysical methods, we establish that prolyl isomerase-containing chaperon OscH, channel-like OscEFG, and β-propeller-like OscD are involved in the folding, secretion, and morphology maintenance of OmcS nanowires, respectively. OscH and OscG can interact with OmcS. Furthermore, overexpression of oscG accelerates EET by overproducing nanowires in an ATP-dependent manner. Heme loading splits OscD; ΔoscD accelerates cell growth, bundles nanowires into cables. Our findings establish the mechanism and prevalence of a specialized and modular assembly system for nanowires across phylogenetically diverse species and environments.

Indexed as

Bacterial ProteinsCytochromesElectron TransportGeobacterNanowiresPhylogenyBacterial ProteinsCytochromesbiogeochemical cyclingbiosynthetic gene clustercytochromeDEAD-boxelectronic conductivityextracellular electron transferGeobactermicrobial nanowiresprolyl isomerasesecretion systems

Identifiers

PMID39818215
PMCPMC11845295

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.