The electrical biopshere in the ocean floor: microbial players and interactions.

Recently, long filamentous bacteria have been discovered in marine sediments, which are capable of generating and mediating electricity over centimeter-scale distances. Recent evidence convincingly suggests that these so-called cable bacteria are not acting alone, and that maybe an electron exchange between cable bacteria and other microbes in the seafloor. Somehow, other bacteria appear to exploit the electrical network provided by the cable bacteria. In this project, we will examine which microbial players are involved, and how they interact. In this way, this project will improve our fundamental understanding of microbial interactions in the ocean floor.

Keywords:ECOLOGY, MICROBIOLOGY

Disciplines:Marine ecology, Microbiology not elsewhere classified