Thesis abstract: Very recently, long filamentous so-called “cable bacteria” have been discovered in marine sediments that are able to generate and mediate the transport of electrons across centimeter-scale distances. These electrogenic bacteria make that the ocean floor operates like a natural battery, and thus cable bacteria have an enormous potential for novel bio-electric applications. Cable bacteria belong to the family Desulfobulbaceae and have been identified in sulphide-rich coastal environments. Because cable bacteria have only been recently discovered, they remain enigmatic in many aspects. The goal of this project is to gain a better understanding of their distribution in the natural environment (both in time and in space) as well as their diversity (genotypic differences between sites).
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