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 likely an electron exchange occurs 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 the microbial players that are involved, and how they interact. In this way, this project will improve our fundamental understanding of ecosystem functioning of the ocean floor.

Keywords:MICROBIAL ANALYSIS, ECOLOGY

Disciplines:Geology, Microbiology, Systems biology, Aquatic sciences, challenges and pollution, Laboratory medicine