Publications

Publications  (Total: 50, h-index: 35)

Google Scholar Citations > 8850 ( > 5750 citations in last 5 years)

*corresponding author; ^#Lab member, ^%Undergraduate student from Malvankar group, ^†equal contribution               

Independent Contributions at Yale

2023

• Yangqi Gu^#*, MJ Guberman-Pfeffer^#, V. Srikanth^#, C. Shen^#, F. Giska, K. Gupta, Y. Londer^#, F. Samatey^#, VS Batista & Nikhil S. Malvankar*. Structure of Geobacter cytochrome OmcZ identifies mechanism of nanowire assembly and conductivity Nature Microbiology­ (2022). PDB: 7LQ5 EMDB-23481. Raw Cryo-EM Data: EMPIAR-11439

Press: EurekAlert! Behind the Paper in Nature Micro.& Nature Bioengineering, Dutch Science Magazine Scientias with English translation. French Newspaper Le Monde, Interesting engineering.

2022

• H. Xing, Y. Huang, B. Kunkemoeller, Peter Dahl^#, O. Muraleetharan, Nikhil Malvankar, M. Murrell, Themis R. Kyriakides*. Dysregulation of TSP2-Rac1-WAVE2 axis in diabetic cells leads to cytoskeletal disorganization, increased cell stiffness, and dysfunction. Scientific Reports 12, 22474 (2022)  Press: Yale Highlight

• J. Neu^#†, C. Shipps^#†, M. Guberman-Pfeffer^#, C. Shen^#, V. Srikanth^#, J. Spies, N. Kirchhoffer, S.Yalcin^#, G. Brudvig, V. Batista, Nikhil S. Malvankar* Microbial biofilms as living photoconductors due to ultrafast electron transfer in cytochrome OmcS nanowires. Nature Communications 13, 5150,1-12.

Press: Press Release, Yale Today, Interesting engineering,  Yale Highlight, Dutch New Scientist with English translation. Interesting engineering. PDF Yale Today and Chemistry World

Selected as Editor’s Highlight among the 50 best papers in Inorganic & Physical Chemistry.

• P. Dahl^#, S. Yi^#, Y. Gu^#, A. Acharya, J. Neu^#, P. O’Brien^#, SE Yalcin^#, U. Morzan, S. Chaudhuri, Matthew Guberman-Pfeffer^#, D. Vu^%, V. Batista & Nikhil S. Malvankar* A 300-fold conductivity increase in microbial cytochrome nanowires due to temperature-induced restructuring of hydrogen bonding networks. Science Adv. 8, eabm7193 (2022).

Press: Press Release, News Highlight by International Center for Theoretical Physics. Yale Scientific Selected for Monthly Yale News.

• Duy Phan…Peter Dahl^#.. Nikhil S. Malvankar.. and Kristopher Kahle* Impaired neurogenesis alters brain biomechanics in a neuroprogenitor-based genetic subtype of congenital hydrocephalus Nature Neuroscience 25, 458–473 (2022).

Press: News, Tweetorial,  Press Release Boston Children’s Hospital

• D. Shapiro^%, G. Mandava^%, SE Yalcin^#, P. Arranz-Gibert, P. Dahl^#, C. Shipps^#, Y. Gu^#, V. Srikanth^#, A. Salazar-Morales^#, J. O’Brien^#, K. Vanderschuren, D. Vu^%, V. Batista, Nikhil S. Malvankar*^† and F. Isaacs*^† (co-last authors) Protein nanowires with tunable functionality and programmable self-assembly using sequence-controlled synthesis Nature Communications 13, 829 (2022)

 Press: Yale Scientific

2021

• Yangqi Gu^#†, Vishok Srikanth^#†, Aldo Salazar-Moralez^#, Ruchi Jain^#, Patrick O’Brien^#, Sophia Yi^#, Rajesh Soni, Fadel Samatey^#, Sibel Ebru Yalcin^#, and Nikhil Malvankar* Structure of Geobacter pili reveals secretory rather than nanowire behavior. Nature 597, 430 (2021) News & Views, Tweetorial;

Animations: Structure Tour, Recommended on Faculty Opinions as Exceptional

Press: Yale News, EurekAlert! Yale Today, Best of the Week, Live Science.  Highlighted in Proteopedia - 3D encyclopedia of every molecule in PDB (About).

• S. E. Yalcin^#,*& Nikhil S. Malvankar* Novel imaging methods help identify structure and function of Geobacter nanowires in biofilms in Roadmap on emerging concepts in the physical biology of bacterial biofilms: from surface sensing to community formation. Physical Biology 18 (5), 051501 (2021).

• Catharine Shipps^#, H. Ray Kelly, Peter Dahl^#, Sophia M. Yi^#, Dennis Vu^%, David Boyer, Calina Glynn, Michael Sawaya, David Eisenberg, Victor S. Batista & Nikhil Malvankar*. Intrinsic electronic conductivity in atomically resolved amyloid protein fibrils reveals micrometer-long hole hopping via stacked tyrosines. PNAS  118, e2014139118.

Press: Yale, Yale Today, and Research Outreach

• Matthew J. Guberman-Pfeffer^#, and Nikhil Malvankar* Making protons tag along with electrons. Biochemical Journal 478 (23):   4093–4097 (2021) . Selected for journal cover!

2020

• Sibel Ebru Yalcin^#†*, J. Patrick O’Brien^#†, Yangqi Gu^#, Krystle Reiss, Sophia M. Yi^#, Ruchi Jain^#, Vishok Srikanth^#, Peter Dahl^#, Winston Huynh^%, Dennis Vu^%, Atanu Acharya, Subha Chaudhuri, Tamas Varga, Victor S. Batista & Nikhil S. Malvankar* Electric field stimulates highly conductive microbial OmcZ nanowires. Nature Chemical Biology 16, 1136–1142 (2020).  News and Views

Press: Press Release, Scientific American, Live Science, Oxford Instruments, Nature Portfolio, NBC-SYFY, Yale Today, Yale News,  Behind the Paper in Nature Micro.& Nature Bioengineering.  

American Society of Microbiology Podcast (@ 16:30 minutes). In 98 percentiles across all journals

• Sibel Ebru Yalcin^#*, Benjamin A. Legg, Merve Yeşilbaş, Nikhil S. Malvankar* and Jean-François Boily* Direct observation of anisotropic water film growth on minerals driven by defects and surface tension. Science Adv. 6, 30, eaaz9708 (2020).

Press: Yale Press Release

• Sibel Yalcin^#* and Nikhil S. Malvankar* The blind men and the filament: Understanding structures and functions of microbial nanowires. Current Opinion in Chemical Biology  59, 193-201 (2020).

2019

• Fengbin Wang^† and Yangqi Gu^†#, J. Patrick O’Brien^#, Sophia M. Yi^#, Sibel Ebru Yalcin^#, Vishok Srikanth^#, Cong Shen^#, Dennis Vu^%, Nicole L. Ing, Allon I. Hochbaum*, Edward H. Egelman* & Nikhil S. Malvankar*.  Structure of microbial nanowires reveals stacked hemes that transport electrons over micrometers. Cell 177, 1-9 (2019). Animations: Structure Tour

Press: Yale Press Release; EurekAlert!  New York Times, Nature Chemical Biology,  Yale Scientific and Proteopedia.

Citations > 300 in ~ 3 years (In 96^th percentile for mentions)

Highlighted in Proteopedia - 3D encyclopedia of every molecule in PDB  (About).

2016

• J. P. O’Brien^# and Nikhil S. Malvankar* A simple and low-cost procedure for growing Geobacter sulfurreducens cell cultures and biofilms in bioelectrochemical systems. Current Protocols in Microbiology 43: A.4K.1-A.4K.27 (2016). Selected in Commonly used methods for cell culture

• Nikhil S. Malvankar, VM Rotello, M. T. Tuominen, D. Lovley. Reply to ‘Measuring conductivity of living Geobacter sulfurreducens biofilms’. Nature Nanotechnology 11, 913-914 (2016)

PATENTS

• F. Isaacs, Nikhil S. Malvankar, Danial Shapiro^%, S. E. Yalcin^# and G. Mandava^%. Compositions and methods for making and using protein nanowires with tunable functionality. Filed on 1/25/2022.

• Nikhil S. Malvankar and S. E. Yalcin^#,. Systems and methods for forming biological nanowires and applications thereof. US application pending 62/637,853. Filed 3/2018. Published 1/2021.

Press: Yale Scientific Brilliant Bacteria: Programming Bacteria to Make Materials

• D. Lovley, Nikhil S. Malvankar, R. Adhikari, Y. Tan, J. Ward, K. Nevin Microbial nanowires with increased conductivity & reduced diameter. Patent no. 11066449. Issued on 7/20/21.

Additional Publications by Mentees

• M. Guberman-Pfeffer (Postdoc 6/1/19-12/31/22) Structural determinants of redox conduction favor robustness over tunability in microbial cytochrome nanowires. BioRxiv. 10.1101/2023.01.21.525004.

• M. Guberman-Pfeffer# (Postdoc 6/1/19-12/31/22). Assessing thermal response of redox conduction for anti-Arrhenius kinetics in a microbial cytochrome nanowire. J. Phys. Chem. B. (2022)

• Catharine Shipps# (PhD. Student (3/1/18-12/31/22). Student- led workshop strengthens perceived discussion skills and community in an interdisciplinary graduate program FASEB Bioadvances (2022)

Publications Prior to Yale

2017

• Y. Tan, RY Adhikari, Nikhil S. Malvankar, S. Pi, JE. Ward, T. Woodard, Kelly P. Nevin, Qiangfei Xia, Mark T. Tuominen, and Derek R. Lovley. Expressing the Geobacter metallireducens pili in Geobacter sulfurreducens yields pili with surprisingly high conductivity. mBio 8: e02203-16 (2017)

2016

• Yang Tan, Ramesh Y Adhikari, Nikhil S Malvankar, Joy E Ward, Kelly P Nevin, Trevor L Woodard, Jessica A Smith, Oona Snoeyenbos-West, AE Franks, Mark T Tuominen and DR Lovley. The low conductivity of Geobacter uraniireducens pili suggests a diversity of extracellular electron transfer mechanisms in the genus Geobacter. Frontiers in Microbiology 7, 980 (2016)

• Yang Tan, Ramesh Y. Adhikari, Nikhil S. Malvankar, Shuang Pi, Joy E. Ward, Trevor L. Woodard, Kelly P. Nevin, Qiangfei Xia, Mark T. Tuominen, and Derek R. Lovley. Synthetic biological protein nanowires with high conductivity. Small 12, 4481-4485 (2016)

• Ke Xiao, Nikhil S. Malvankar, Eric Martz, Chuanjun Shu, Derek Lovley and Xiao Sun. Low energy atomic models suggesting a pilus structure that could account for electrical conductivity of Geobacter sulfurreducens pili. Scientific Reports 6, 23385 (2016). Animations: Interactive 3D

• Ramesh Adhikari, Nikhil S. Malvankar, Mark Tuominen, and Derek Lovley. Conductivity of individual Geobacter pili. RSC Advances 6, 8354 (2016).

• Jiae Yun, Nikhil S. Malvankar, Toshiyuki Ueki,  and Derek R. Lovley. Functional environmental proteomics: Elucidating the role of a c-type cytochrome abundant during uranium bioremediation The International Society of Microbial Ecology Journal 10, 310 (2016).

2015

• Nikhil S. Malvankar, Madeline Vargas, Kelly Nevin, PL Tremblay, Kenenth Evans-Lutterodt, Dymtro Nykypanchuk, E. Martz, M. Tuominen and DR Lovley. Structural basis for metallic-like conductivity in microbial nanowires mBio  6 (2), e00084-15 (2015). Animations: Interactive 3D  Selected for the Cover Press: EurekAlert

• Nikhil S. Malvankar*, Gary King and D. R. Lovley. Centimeter-long electron transport in marine sediments via conductive minerals. The International Society of Microbial Ecology Journal 9, 527-531 (2015).

• Nikhil S. Malvankar* and D. R. Lovley. “Electronic conductivity in biofilms: Physical meaning, mechanisms and measurement methods” Book Chapter in “Biofilms in bioelectrochemical systems: From laboratory practice to data interpretation.” Willey, NY (2015). Book Preview

• Xi Yu, Nikhil S. Malvankar, Ryan Landis, Serkan Eymur, Oscar Miranda, and V. M. Rotello. Impedance spectroscopy of ionic ligand modulated gold nanoparticles assembly and their application in volatile gas sensing. Small  11 (31) ,3814-3821 (2015).

• Derek Lovley and Nikhil S. Malvankar. Seeing is believing: Novel imaging techniques help clarify microbial nanowire structure and function. Environmental Microbiology 17, 2209 (2015)

• Fanghua Liu, Amelia-Elena Rotaru, Pravin Shrestha, Nikhil S. Malvankar, Kelly P. Nevin, Derek Lovley^. Magnetite compensates for the lack of a pilin-associated c-type cytochrome in extracellular electron exchange. Environmental Microbiology 17 (3), 648-655 (2015).

2014

• Nikhil S. Malvankar*, Sibel E. Yalcin, Mark T. Tuominen and Derek R. Lovley. Visualization of charge propagation along individual pili proteins using ambient electrostatic force microscopy. Nature Nanotechnology  9, 1012-1017 (2014). Press: EurekAlert!.  In 98 percentiles in all journals

• Nikhil S. Malvankar and Derek R. Lovley. 2014. “Microbial Nanowires for bioenergy applications.” Current Opinion in Biotechnology 27, 88-95 (2014). In 99 percentiles

• X. Liu, PL Tremblay, Nikhil Malvankar, K Nevin, D Lovely, M Vargas. Geobacter sulfurreducens strain expressing Pseudomonas aeruginosa pili localizes OmcS on pili but is deficient in Fe (III) oxide reduction & current production. Applied & Environmental Microbiology 80, 1219 (2014).

• PM Shrestha, Nikhil S. Malvankar, J. Werner, A. Franks, A. Rotaru, M. Shrestha, F. Liu, K. Nevin, L. Angenent, D. Lovley. Correlation between microbial community and granule conductivity in anaerobic bioreactors for brewery wastewater treatment. Bioresource Technology 174, 306 (2014).

• Shanshan Chen, AE Rotaru, Nikhil S. Malvankar, F. Liu, Kelly Nevin, Derek Lovley. Promoting interspecies electron transfer with biochar. Scientific Reports 4, 5019 (2014). ~ 450 citations

2013

• Ching Leang, Nikhil S. Malvankar, AE Franks, Kelly Nevin Derek R. Lovley.  Engineering Geobacter sulfurreducens to produce a highly cohesive conductive matrix with enhanced capacity for current production. Energy and Environmental Science, 6:1901-1908 (2013).

• M. Vargas, Nikhil S. Malvankar, PL Tremblay, Ching Leang, Jessica Smith, Pranav Patel, Oona Synoeyenbos-West, K. Nevin, D. Lovley. Aromatic amino acids required for pili conductivity and long-range extracellular electron transport in Geobacter sulfurreducens. mBio, 4: e00105-13 (2013). Commentary - Molecular dissection of bacterial nanowires

• PM Shrestha, AE Rotaru, M. Aklujkar, F. Liu, M. Shrestha, Z. M. Summers, Nikhil S. Malvankar, Dan Carlo Flores, and D. Lovley. Syntrophic growth with direct interspecies electron transfer as the sole mechanism for energy exchange. Environmental Microbiology Reports, 5:904-910 (2013).

2012

• Nikhil S. Malvankar*, Tünde Mester, M. T. Tuominen, and D. R. Lovley. Supercapacitors based on c-type cytochromes using electrically conductivity nanostructured networks of living bacteria. ChemPhysChem, 13, 463 – 468 (2012). Selected for the Cover Inside Science News Article - Could Pacemakers Be Powered by Sugar?

• Nikhil S. Malvankar*, M. T. Tuominen and D. R. Lovley. Biofilm conductivity is a decisive variable for the high-current-density of Geobacter sulfurreducens microbial fuel cells. Energy and Environmental Science 5, 5790-5797 (2012).

• Nikhil S. Malvankar*, M. T. Tuominen, and D. R. Lovley. Lack of involvements of c-type cytochromes in long-range electron transport in microbial biofilms and nanowires. Energy and Environmental Science, 5, 8651-8659 (2012).

• Nikhil S. Malvankar*, J. Lau, K. Nevin, AE Franks, M. Tuominen, D. Lovley. Electrical conductivity in mixed-species biofilms. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 78, 5967 (2012).

• NS Malvankar*, DR. Lovley. Microbial nanowires: A new paradigm for biological electron transfer and bioelectronics. ChemSusChem 5, 1039-1046 (2012). Selected as a Spotlight article in Angew. Chem. 2012, 51, 7358-7360.

• Nikhil S. Malvankar, M. T. Tuominen and D. R. Lovley.  Comment on ‘‘On electrical conductivity of microbial nanowires and biofilms’’ by Strycharz-Glaven et al., Energy Environ. Sci., 2011, 4, 4366. Energy and Environmental Science 5, 6247:6249 (2012).

• F Liu, AE Rotaru, PM Shrestha, Nikhil S. Malvankar, KP Nevin, DR Lovley. Promoting direct interspecies electron transfer with activated carbon. Energy and Environmental Science, 5 (10), 8982-8989 (2012).

2011

• Nikhil S. Malvankar, M. Vargas, K. Nevin, A. Franks, C. Leang, B.C. Kim, K. Inoue, T. Mester, S. F. Covalla, J. P. Johnson, V.M. Rotello, M. T. Tuominen, and D. R. Lovley. Tunable metallic-like conductivity in microbial nanowire networks. Nature Nanotechnology 6, 573 (2011). News & Views  On the Cover;  In 97 percentiles across all journals  > 800 citations  Press: New Scientist, Physics Today

• Morita, M., Nikhil S. Malvankar, Franks, A.E., Summers, Z.M., Giloteaux, L., Rotaru, A.E., Rotaru, C., & Lovley, D.R., Potential for direct interspecies electron transfer in methanogenic wastewater digester aggregates. mBio 2 (4), e00159-00111 (2011).

• D. R. Lovley, T. Ueki, T. Zhang, Nikhil. S. Malvankar, P. M. Shrestha, K. Flanagan, M. Aklujkar, J. E. Butler, L. Giloteaux, AE Rotaru, DE Holmes, AE Franks, R. Orellana, C. Risso, K. P. Nevin, Geobacter: The microbe electric’s physiology, ecology, and practical applications.    Advances in Microbial Physiology., 59:1-100 (2011).

2010

• Z. Summers, H. Fogarty, C. Leang, A. Franks, Nikhil S. Malvankar, D. Lovley. Cooperative exchange of electrons within aggregates of an evolved syntrophic co-culture.   Science. 330, 1413-1415 (2010).  > 700 citations Press: EurekAlert!

• Debabrata Patra, Nikhil S. Malvankar, Erica Chin, Mark Tuominen, Zhiyong Gu, and Vincent M. Rotello. Fabrication of conductive microcapsules via self-assembly and crosslinking of gold nanowires at liquid–liquid interfaces. Small, 6: 1402–1405 (2010).

• A. E. Franks, Nikhil S. Malvankar, K.P. Nevin. Bacterial biofilms: the powerhouse of a microbial fuel cell. Biofuels 1:589-604 (2010).

• Nikhil S. Malvankar Investigations of electron transport and storage mechanisms in microbial biofilms. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Massachusetts, Amherst (2010).