Mechanism of metal-like transport in bacterial protein nanowires
A cornerstone of quantum physics is the interference of electron waves arising from the superposition principle. Metallic conductivity is an effect of interference of partial electron waves multiply scattered at the ion cores of the crystal lattice. But proteins are generally insulators. Electron transfer in proteins occurs through either tunneling or hopping a few nanometers via inorganic cofactors. However, the common soil bacteriaGeobacter sulfurreducens transfer electrons over hundreds of micrometers, to insoluble electron acceptors1 or syntrophic partner species2 for...