INDOZONE.ID – Deep beneath the ocean floor, tiny bacteria are found that “breathe” electricity through a long, tiny snorkel. Now, scientists have found a way to turn this microbe’s electric breath on and off. This strange bacterium relies on two proteins, which are held together in a hair-like structure called a pilus. The researchers report in a new study, published Sept. 1 in the journal Nature.
Many of these pili sit just below the bacterial membrane and help propel the snorkel out of the cell and into the surrounding environment, allowing the microbes to breathe. Seeing this, Nikhil Malvankar, assistant professor of molecular biophysics and biochemistry at Yale University’s Institute of Microbial Sciences, gave his comments.
“This discovery not only reveals something unexpected about bacterial biology but could also pave the way for new technologies, from powerful microbial-powered batteries to new medical treatments for bacterial infections,” he said, citing Live Science.
The bacteria belong to the genus Geobacter and can be found all over the world, growing deep underground where there is absolutely no oxygen. Humans depend on oxygen to convert food into usable energy to absorb electrons left over from metabolic processes.
Similar to humans, Geobacter microbes produce waste electrons during metabolism, but they don’t have access to oxygen like humans do. So, to remove excess electrons, bacteria coat themselves in thin, conductive filaments, called nanowires.
“Humans cannot breathe oxygen 100 meters away from them,” said Malvankar.
“And somehow these bacteria use these nanowires like snorkels that are 100 times the size, so they can still breathe over such great distances.”
However, while scientists discovered these nanowires in the early 2000s, Malvankar and his team have only recently discovered what they are actually made of. Initially, scientists also assumed that the nanowires were pili.
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