The relay network of Geobacter biofilms

ORDOÑEZ, MARÍA VICTORIA; SCHROTT, GERMÁN DAVID; MASSAZZA, DIEGO; BUSALMEN, JUAN PABLO

ENERGY & ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY

Lugar: CAMBRIDGE; Año: 2016

1754-5692

While actual models explainingelectron conduction in electricity producing biofilms have evolved separatelyto apparent irreconcilable conceptual positions, finding cytochrome complexes in the external matrix of Geobacter  biofilms supports the proposal of a newfunctional model, that takes fundamental elements from confronting theories.  In this model electrons expelled by cells areconducted to the collecting electrode along a network of supramolecularcytochrome arrangements interconnected by semiconducting pilus fibres that provideequipotential conditions within physically distant points. This arrangement resemblesfrom our point of view a neural network for Geobacter biofilm, which allows aconcerted physiological response of the entire population to any local redoxchange