Inquisition of Microcystis aeruginosa and Synechocystis nanowires: characterization and modelling
Identification of extracellular conductive pilus-like structures (PLS) i.e. microbial nanowires has spurred great interest among scientists due to their potential applications in the fields of biogeochemistry, bioelectronics, bioremediation etc. Using conductive atomic force microscopy, we identifie...
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Published in | Antonie van Leeuwenhoek Vol. 108; no. 5; pp. 1213 - 1225 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Cham
Springer International Publishing
01.11.2015
Springer Nature B.V |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Identification of extracellular conductive pilus-like structures (PLS) i.e. microbial nanowires has spurred great interest among scientists due to their potential applications in the fields of biogeochemistry, bioelectronics, bioremediation etc. Using conductive atomic force microscopy, we identified microbial nanowires in
Microcystis aeruginosa
PCC 7806 which is an aerobic, photosynthetic microorganism. We also confirmed the earlier finding that
Synechocystis
sp. PCC 6803 produces microbial nanowires. In contrast to the use of highly instrumented continuous flow reactors for
Synechocystis
reported earlier, we identified simple and optimum culture conditions which allow increased production of nanowires in both test cyanobacteria. Production of these nanowires in
Synechocystis
and
Microcystis
were found to be sensitive to the availability of carbon source and light intensity. These structures seem to be proteinaceous in nature and their diameter was found to be 4.5–7 and 8.5–11 nm in
Synechocystis
and
M. aeruginosa
, respectively. Characterization of
Synechocystis
nanowires by transmission electron microscopy and biochemical techniques confirmed that they are type IV pili (TFP) while nanowires in
M. aeruginosa
were found to be similar to an unnamed protein (GenBank : CAO90693.1). Modelling studies of the
Synechocystis
TFP subunit i.e. PilA1 indicated that strategically placed aromatic amino acids may be involved in electron transfer through these nanowires. This study identifies PLS from
Microcystis
which can act as nanowires and supports the earlier hypothesis that microbial nanowires are widespread in nature and play diverse roles. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 0003-6072 1572-9699 |
DOI: | 10.1007/s10482-015-0576-2 |