Comparative genome analysis of four magnetotactic bacteria reveals a complex set of group-specific genes implicated in magnetosome biomineralization and function.

ABSTRACT: Magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) are a heterogeneous group of aquatic prokaryotes with a unique intracellular organelle, the magnetosome, which orients the cell along magnetic field lines. Magnetotaxis is a complex phenotype, which depends on the coordinate synthesis of magnetosomes and the ability to swim and orient along the direction caused by the interaction with the Earth's magnetic field. Although a number of putative magnetotaxis genes were recently identified within a conserved genomic magnetosome island (MAI) of several MTB, their functions have remained mostly unknown, and it was speculated that additional genes located outside the MAI might be involved in magnetosome formation and magnetotaxis. In order to identify genes specifically associated with the magnetotactic phenotype, we c

SUBMITTER: Richter M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1913459 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature