Diversity of magneto-aerotactic behaviors and oxygen sensing mechanisms in cultured magnetotactic bacteria.

ABSTRACT: Microorganisms living in gradient environments affect large-scale processes, including the cycling of elements such as carbon, nitrogen or sulfur, the rates and fate of primary production, and the generation of climatically active gases. Aerotaxis is a common adaptation in organisms living in the oxygen gradients of stratified environments. Magnetotactic bacteria are such gradient-inhabiting organisms that have a specific type of aerotaxis that allows them to compete at the oxic-anoxic interface. They biomineralize magnetosomes, intracellular membrane-coated magnetic nanoparticles, that comprise a permanent magnetic dipole that causes the cells to align along magnetic field lines. The magnetic alignment enables them to efficiently migrate toward an optimal oxygen concentration in microaero

SUBMITTER: Lefevre CT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4104051 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature