Science Daily March 20, 2024 Extracellular electron transfer (EET) via microbial nanowires drives important environmental processes and biotechnological applications for bioenergy, bioremediation, and bioelectronics. However, the process is not clear. An international team of researchers (USA – Yale University, Portugal) showed that Geobacter sulfurreducens periplasmic cytochromes PpcABCDE inject electrons directly into OmcS nanowires by binding transiently with differing efficiencies, with the least-abundant cytochrome (PpcC) showing the highest efficiency. This defined nanowire-charging pathway was evolutionarily conserved in phylogenetically diverse bacteria capable of EET. OmcS heme reduction potentials were within 200 mV of each other, with a midpoint 82 mV-higher than reported previously. […]
Tag Archives: Bacteria
Superworms capable of munching through plastic
Science Daily June 9, 2022 Polystyrene is among the most common forms of plastic, but recycling it is not easy and the vast majority ends up in landfills or ocean. Researchers in Australia discovered that superworms can survive on a sole polystyrene diet, and even gain a small amount of weight—compared to a starvation control group. They analyzed the microbial gut community and found which gene-encoded enzymes were involved in degrading the plastic. One way to put the findings to use would be to provide super worms with food waste or agricultural bioproducts to consume alongside polystyrene. But while breeding […]