Recommended Citation
Postprint version. Published in Science Magazine, Volume 334, Issue 6063, December 23, 2011, pages 1720-1723.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1212596.
Abstract
Magnetotactic bacteria contain magnetosomes—intracellular, membrane-bounded, magnetic nanocrystals of magnetite (Fe3O4) or greigite (Fe3S4)—that cause the bacteria to swim along geomagnetic field lines. We isolated a greigite-producing magnetotactic bacterium from a brackish spring in Death Valley National Park, California, USA, strain BW-1, that is able to biomineralize greigite and magnetite depending on culture conditions. A phylogenetic comparison of BW-1 and similar uncultured greigite- and/or magnetite-producing magnetotactic bacteria from freshwater to hypersaline habitats shows that these organisms represent a previously unknown group of sulfate-reducing bacteria in the Deltaproteobacteria. Genomic analysis of BW-1 reveals the presence of two different magnetosome gene clusters, suggesting that one may be responsible for greigite biomineralization and the other for magnetite.
Disciplines
Physics
Copyright
Publisher statement
This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of the AAAS for personal use, not for redistribution.
URL: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/phy_fac/362