Unveiling the Molecular Mechanisms of Ultra Long-Range Electron Transport in Bacteria through Multiheme Protein Complexes

Nature has developed unique ways to translocate electrons along exceedingly long distances by designing unique supra-molecular structures that act like “electrical wires”. The efficiency of electron transport in such systems surpasses any current understanding of the physical transport mechanisms in synthetic chemical systems. This project will focus on the study of the molecular basis that accounts for the observed long-range electron transport in some species of Shewanella bacteria used to efficiently pump electrons out towards the extracellular domain using multiheme cytochromes. To this aim, the project proposes a unique biophysical approach that combines cutting-edge single-protein transport experiments with state-of-the-art computational modelling.