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Updated: Jan 23, 2026

Routine Collection of High-Resolution cryo-EM Datasets Using 200 KV Transmission Electron Microscope
Published on: March 16, 2022
Cryo-EM reveals the structural basis of long-range electron transport in a cytochrome-based bacterial nanowire
David J Filman1, Stephen F Marino2, Joy E Ward3
11Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, 240 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115 USA.
Abstract:
Electrically conductive pili from Geobacter species, termed bacterial nanowires, are intensely studied for their biological significance and potential in the development of new materials. Using cryo-electron microscopy, we have characterized nanowires from conductive G. sulfurreducens pili preparations that are composed solely of head-to-tail stacked monomers of the six-heme C-type cytochrome OmcS. The unique fold of OmcS - closely wrapped around a continuous stack of hemes that can serve as an uninterrupted path for electron transport - generates a scaffold that supports the unbranched chain of hemes along the central axis of the filament. We present here, at 3.4 Å resolution, the structure of this cytochrome-based filament and discuss its possible role in long-range biological electron transport.
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