Extracellular electron transport in Geobacter has long been ascribed to conductive pili. Cryogenic electron microscopy now reveals non-conductive filaments made of pilin-heterodimer subunits. The combined data support a role for Geobacter pili in cytochrome-nanowire secretion instead of conduction.
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Boesen, T., Nielsen, L.P. & Schramm, A. Pili for nanowires. Nat Microbiol 6, 1347–1348 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-021-00990-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-021-00990-0
