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Article
Morphological features of elongated-anisotropic magnetosome crystals in magnetotactic bacteria of the Nitrospirae phylum and the Deltaproteobacteria class
Earth and Planetary Science Letters
  • Christopher T. Lefèvre, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
  • Mihály Pósfai, University of Pannonia, Veszprém
  • Fernanda Abreu, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro
  • Ulysses Lins, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro
  • Richard B. Frankel, California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo
  • Dennis A. Bazlinski, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Publication Date
12-1-2011
Abstract

High resolution transmission electron microscopy was used to study the crystallographic habits of the elongated magnetite crystals, variously described as bullet-, tooth- or arrowhead-shaped, in two recently described, uncultured, magnetotactic bacteria belonging to the Nitrospirae phylum designated Candidatus Magnetoovum mohavensis strain LO-1, and Candidatus Thermomagnetovibrio paiutensis strain HSMV-1; and a cultured sulfate-reducing magnetotactic bacterium of the Deltaproteobacteria class of the Proteobacteria phylum designated strain AV-1. The elongation axes of the magnetosomes do not coincide with the easy magnetization axis (which is [111]) but they are parallel to [100] in LO-1 and AV-1 and parallel to [110] in HSMV-1. In all three strains, magnetosome magnetite crystals appear to elongate at constant width, resulting in asymmetric shapes. Idealized crystal morphologies are proposed. Neither the control mechanism over crystal growth, nor the adaptiveness, if any, of such unusual crystal habits are known at the moment. Since similar elongated and asymmetric morphologies are unknown in inorganically-formed magnetite crystals, these forms of magnetosome magnetite appear to be excellent biomarkers.

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Citation Information
Christopher T. Lefèvre, Mihály Pósfai, Fernanda Abreu, Ulysses Lins, et al.. "Morphological features of elongated-anisotropic magnetosome crystals in magnetotactic bacteria of the Nitrospirae phylum and the Deltaproteobacteria class" Earth and Planetary Science Letters Vol. 312 Iss. 1-2 (2011) p. 194 - 200
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/rfrankel/182/