IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/nature/v463y2010i7284d10.1038_nature08790.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Electric currents couple spatially separated biogeochemical processes in marine sediment

Author

Listed:
  • Lars Peter Nielsen

    (Department of Biological Sciences,)

  • Nils Risgaard-Petersen

    (Center for Geomicrobiology, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 114, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark)

  • Henrik Fossing

    (National Environmental Research Institute, Aarhus University, Vejlsøvej 25, DK-8600 Silkeborg, Denmark)

  • Peter Bondo Christensen

    (National Environmental Research Institute, Aarhus University, Vejlsøvej 25, DK-8600 Silkeborg, Denmark)

  • Mikio Sayama

    (National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, 16-1 Onogawa, Tsukuba 305-8569, Japan)

Abstract

Down through the wire Some microbes are capable of extracellular electron transport through so-called bacterial nanowires or electron shuttles. It is now shown that this may be a significant process in the marine sediment, allowing oxygen to oxidize compounds located centimetres away. The remains of dead algae and faeces buried in marine sediment are a good food resource for microbes, but at sediment depths greater than a few millimetres the lack of oxygen limits utilization of this resource. A study of sediment samples from the seabed off Aarhus in Denmark reveals that microbes can overcome this obstacle by making intercellular electric connections and establishing a division of labour. Cells at the surface utilize sufficient oxygen for all cells in the community, and those at depth acquire nutrients for all.

Suggested Citation

  • Lars Peter Nielsen & Nils Risgaard-Petersen & Henrik Fossing & Peter Bondo Christensen & Mikio Sayama, 2010. "Electric currents couple spatially separated biogeochemical processes in marine sediment," Nature, Nature, vol. 463(7284), pages 1071-1074, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:463:y:2010:i:7284:d:10.1038_nature08790
    DOI: 10.1038/nature08790
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/nature08790
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/nature08790?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. María José De La Fuente & Carlos Gallardo-Bustos & Rodrigo De la Iglesia & Ignacio T. Vargas, 2022. "Microbial Electrochemical Technologies for Sustainable Nitrogen Removal in Marine and Coastal Environments," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-17, February.
    2. Cleuren, Bart & Proesmans, Karel, 2020. "Stochastic impedance," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 552(C).
    3. Kataki, S. & Chatterjee, S. & Vairale, M.G. & Sharma, S. & Dwivedi, S.K. & Gupta, D.K., 2021. "Constructed wetland, an eco-technology for wastewater treatment: A review on various aspects of microbial fuel cell integration, low temperature strategies and life cycle impact of the technology," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    4. Md Tabish Noori & Dayakar Thatikayala & Booki Min, 2022. "Bioelectrochemical Remediation for the Removal of Petroleum Hydrocarbon Contaminants in Soil," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-22, November.
    5. Jesper J. Bjerg & Jamie J. M. Lustermans & Ian P. G. Marshall & Anna J. Mueller & Signe Brokjær & Casper A. Thorup & Paula Tataru & Markus Schmid & Michael Wagner & Lars Peter Nielsen & Andreas Schram, 2023. "Cable bacteria with electric connection to oxygen attract flocks of diverse bacteria," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-8, December.
    6. Shuncun Zhang & Bo Chen & Junru Du & Tao Wang & Haixin Shi & Feng Wang, 2022. "Distribution, Assessment, and Source of Heavy Metals in Sediments of the Qinjiang River, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-17, July.
    7. Irfan, Muhammad & Zhou, Lei & Ji, Jia-Heng & Chen, Jing & Yuan, Shan & Liang, Tian-Tian & Liu, Jin-Feng & Yang, Shi-Zhong & Gu, Ji-Dong & Mu, Bo-Zhong, 2020. "Enhanced energy generation and altered biochemical pathways in an enrichment microbial consortium amended with natural iron minerals," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 585-594.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:463:y:2010:i:7284:d:10.1038_nature08790. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.