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Scientists discover new electricity-conducting bacterium in Oregon mudflats | Conducting electricity is rare among living organisms


Scientists have identified a new species of bacteria in the mudflats of Oregon's Yaquina Bay that is capable of conducting electricity, a property uncommon among living organisms.

Forward-looking: Scientists have discovered a new species of cable bacteria that uses distinctive nickel-based fibers to conduct electricity, revealing key insights into its evolutionary history. Oregon State University researchers identified the bacterium, Candidatus Electrothrix yaqonensis, which is named in honor of the Yaqona people, the Indigenous inhabitants of the region where the discovery was made. Cheng Li, then a postdoctoral researcher, and Clare Reimers, distinguished professor emerita at Oregon State University, identified the new cable bacteria species from intertidal sediment samples collected in the Yaquina Bay estuary.

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