A new species of bacteria that works like electric wiring recently discovered On a brackish beach in Oregon. The species has been named Candidate electrothrix yaqonensis In honor of the Yaquina tribe of the Amerindians who once lived in Yaquina bay and around Yaquina, where bacteria were found.
This species is a type of wired bacteria: rod -shaped microbes which are connected to both ends to each other to create a chain and which share an external membrane, forming filaments several centimeters long. The wired bacteria are found in sediments of marine and fresh water and, unusually among the bacteria, are electrically conductive. This is due to their special metabolism, in which the electrons generated by oxidizing sulphides in their deeper layers are sent to their surface layer, where they are received by oxygen and nitric acid.
The 25 species of known cable bacteria have been organized in two kinds, Electric candidatewho live in salt water, and Electronic candidatewho live in fresh and brackish water. The new species discovered in this study has genes and metabolic pathways of the two genres but would be a bridge towards a previous branch of Electric candidate The line, and it was therefore classified as part of this kind.
Recently discovered species can provide new information on how cable bacteria has evolved and how they can work in various environments, Cheng Li, postdoctoral researcher at Oregon State University and research co-author, explained in a press release.
High electrical conductivity
Candidate electrothrix yaqonensis is distinct from the cable bacteria existing in its appearance. The wired bacteria have external shells which have ridges, which extend like mountains. The crests of the new species are much thicker than those of the species previously known, reaching an average thickness of around 228 nanometers, up to three times thicker than what has been seen before. The crests of new species are arranged in a spiral pattern on the surface of the filament, and their global shape is more angular than that of other species.
But the most striking difference is that the filament of the new species is surrounded by a thick and transparent sheath. According to the authors of the article describing the discovery, it is a structure that we do not see before. This sheath does not lead electricity and is supposed to protect the environment from the environment and foreign enemies.
