Mother nature as a wire manufacturer: Scientists see how microbe directs electrons
Wednesday, July 25, 2012 - 06:30
in Physics & Chemistry
(Phys.org) -- For the first time, each step an electron takes as it moves along a "wire" from a microbe's interior to the outside world is known, thanks to modeling by University College London and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The wire is a twisted molecule, known as a cytochrome. The cytochrome is made of 10 iron-based clusters, called hemes, held in a particular arrangement by a protein that serves as a backbone. The hemes are positioned end-to-end in a staggered cross, to comprise the electron transfer interface between the interior of Shewanella oneidensis, a bacteria found in the soil, and metals and minerals beyond the cell's wall.