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A Cultured Greigite-Producing Magnetotactic Bacterium in a Novel Group of Sulfate-Reducing Bacteria

TitleA Cultured Greigite-Producing Magnetotactic Bacterium in a Novel Group of Sulfate-Reducing Bacteria
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2011
AuthorsLefevre CT, Menguy N, Abreu F, Lins U, Mihaly P, Prozorov T, Pignol D, Frankel RB, Bazylinski DA
Journal TitleScience
Volume334
Pages1720-1723
Date Published12/23
ISBN Number0036-8075
Accession NumberISI:000298344000072
Keywordsbiomineralization, candidatus magnetoglobus-multicellularis, CRYSTALS, fe3s4, magnetite fe3o4, magnetosome formation, prokaryote, ultrastructure
Abstract

Magnetotactic bacteria contain magnetosomes-intracellular, membrane-bounded, magnetic nanocrystals of magnetite (Fe(3)O(4)) or greigite (Fe(3)S(4))-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.
URL<Go to ISI>://000298344000072
DOI10.1126/Science.1212596
Alternate JournalScience