Publication - Journal Article In vitro single-cell dissection revealing the interior structure of cable bacteria

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 115, iss. 34, pp. 8517-8522, 2018

Zaixing Jiang, Shuai Zhang, Lasse Hyldgaard Klausen, Jie Song, Qiang Li, Zegao Wang, Bjørn Torger Stokke, Yudong Huang, Flemming Besenbacher, Lars Peter Nielsen, Mingdong Dong

Significance Cable bacteria were recently discovered as the facilitators of electron transfer over centimeter distances in marine sediments. In this work, we explore the unique structure of the cable bacteria, using atomic force microscopy-based single-cell in vitro dissection. We identify different types of bacterial cell–cell junctions and continuous dimeric strings hidden under the outer membrane that pass through the cell junctions. The strings seem to serve an important function in maintaining the integrity of individual cable bacteria cells as a united filament. On the basis of our findings, we propose a model for the division and growth of the cable bacteria, which illustrate the possible structural requirements for the formation of centimeter-length filaments in the recently discovered cable bacteria.