Generation of High Current Densities in Geobacter sulfurreducens Lacking the Putative Gene for the PilB Pilus Assembly Motor.

ABSTRACT: Geobacter sulfurreducens is commonly employed as a model for the study of extracellular electron transport mechanisms in the Geobacter species. Deletion of pilB, which is known to encode the pilus assembly motor protein for type IV pili in other bacteria, has been proposed as an effective strategy for evaluating the role of electrically conductive pili (e-pili) in G. sulfurreducens extracellular electron transfer. In those studies, the inhibition of e-pili expression associated with pilB deletion was not demonstrated directly but was inferred from the observation that pilB deletion mutants produced lower current densities than wild-type cells. Here, we report that deleting pilB did not diminish current production. Conducting probe atomic force microscopy

SUBMITTER: Ueki T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8557921 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature