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Department of Bioscience

Center for Electromicrobiology

9 facts about cable bacteria

1. A cable bacterium contains a bundle of electric wires.

2. A cable bacterium consists of thousands of cells in line.

3. One cable bacterium can be more than 5 cm long

4. They glide around in the sea bottom and other places where oxygen is scarce

5. By using internal electric currents they can respire if one end finds oxygen

6. Such an electric form of life was entirely unknown until 2012

7. Nobody knows what the electric wires are made of

8. Cable bacteria are as thin as spider web

9. One teaspoonful of mud contains one kilometer of cable bacteria

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Maria Blach Nielsen

Revised 20.09.2018