Electric charge propagating along microbial nanowires

Electric charges indeed propagate and along with microbial nanowires that produce nanotubes . It is a highly conductive human-made material. Microbiologist Derek Lovely and colleagues of the University of Massachusetts Amherst researched that microbe Geobacter produces tiny electrical wires that is called microbial nanowires. Malvankar says that they injected electrons at one spot in the microbial nanowires  and through the nanowire  the electrons  propagated  and whole filament lit up. In biology it offers many opportunities and in biological proteins EFM has been applied. Lovely says that through microbial nanowires , the ability of electric current to flow and has practical implications and environmental .Through these wires, Microbial  species electrically communicate and methane gas produce by conversion of wastes and sharing energy.

Geobactor act an important role in environmental cleanup and significantly changing soil chemistry . This geobactor live in on iron and other metals in the soil. Geobactor has ability to produce electricity and it is adapted to biological computing devices and adapted to engineer microbial sensors. It has protein filaments and metallic- like conductivity. It can conduct electrons like a wire. It has biochemical stepping-stones and it can hold the individual electrons. It has metallic-like conductivity and these are conducted to a copper like wire. Malvankar and Tuominen’s labs in 2011 says that   Metalic-like how to changed with different temperature or PH. In their hypothesis, add more support and it is removing the aromatic amino acids that is necessary for metallic-like conductivity. It has delocalized electrons and has final key evidence.

It has microbial nanowires and it is protein. It has ability to visualize the charge propagation and in the nanowires  at a molecular level. This technique has speciallity about physics and biological interest. In Tuominen ,this is important in biology and in materials science and this discovery is not only an important nw principle. Natural amino acids can produce carbon nanotubes and it has exciting opportunities for protein-based nanoelectronics. It has potential   green electronics and it is made from non-toxic materials , renewable. For a diversity of applications , it can be engineering electric microbes , genetically manipulated . To detect environmental contaminants , Geobactor making into electronic sensors.There  are also Geobacter-based microbiological computers. The office of naval research, the national Science Foundation and the Department of Energy was supported this.

 Source- this is provided by University of Massachusetts at Amherst

Journal Reference:

1.     Nikhil S. Malvankar, Sibel Ebru Yalcin, Mark T. Tuominen, Derek R. Lovley.Visualization of charge propagation along individual pili proteins using ambient electrostatic force microscopy. Nature Nanotechnology, 2014; DOI:10.1038/nnano.2014.236