The Archaellum of Methanospirillum hungatei is Electrically Conductive

Abstract

Here we report that the archaellum of Methanospirillum hungatei is electrically conductive. Our analysis of the previously published archaellum structure suggests that a core of tightly packed phenylalanines is one likely route for electron conductance. This is the first demonstration that electrically conductive protein filaments (e-PFs) have evolved in Archaea and is the first e-PF for which a structure is known, facilitating mechanistic evaluation of long-range electron transport in e-PFs.