Magnetosome organelles are organized through interactions between McaA and McaB that alter the dynamics of the bacterial actin-like protein MamK.

ABSTRACT: Magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) are a group of Gram-negative species that produce a lipid-bounded organelle, the magnetosome, in which a magnetic crystal is biomineralized. MTB use magnetosomes to align with the geomagnetic field for improved navigation of their environment. To optimize this alignment, these species organize their magnetosomes in a linear fashion using a handful of factors including the bacterial actin-like protein MamK. Despite these shared features, there is a broad diversity of species-specific linear magnetosome chain arrangements within MTB, but the molecular mechanisms behind these phenotypic variations are unclear. Recently, genetic analyses showed that two proteins - McaA and McaB - interface with the chain organization machinery of Magnetospirillum magneticum

SUBMITTER: Ra Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12642318 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature