Crystal growth of bullet-shaped magnetite in magnetotactic bacteria of the Nitrospirae phylum.

ABSTRACT: Magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) are known to produce single-domain magnetite or greigite crystals within intracellular membrane organelles and to navigate along the Earth's magnetic field lines. MTB have been suggested as being one of the most ancient biomineralizing metabolisms on the Earth and they represent a fundamental model of intracellular biomineralization. Moreover, the determination of their specific crystallographic signature (e.g. structure and morphology) is essential for palaeoenvironmental and ancient-life studies. Yet, the mechanisms of MTB biomineralization remain poorly understood, although this process has been extensively studied in several cultured MTB strains in the Proteobacteria phylum. Here, we show a comprehensive transmission electron microscopy (TEM) study of magne

SUBMITTER: Li J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4305428 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature