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Magnetotactic Bacteria

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The Prokaryotes

1 Introduction

Magnetotactic bacteria are Gram-negative, motile prokaryotes that synthesize intracellular crystals of magnetic iron oxide or iron sulfide minerals. These apparently membrane-bounded crystals are called magnetosomes (Balkwill et al., 1980) and cause the bacteria to orient and migrate along geomagnetic field lines. Magnetotactic bacteria are indigenous in sediments or stratified water columns where they occur predominantly at the oxic-anoxic transition zone (OATZ) and the anoxic regions of the habitat or both. They represent a diverse group of microorganisms with respect to morphology, physiology and phylogeny. Despite the efforts of a number of different research groups, only a few representatives of this group of bacteria have been isolated in axenic culture since their discovery by (Richard P. Blakemore, 1975), and even fewer have been adequately described in the literature. Therefore, little is known about their metabolic plasticity, whereas their diverse morphology...

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Authors
  1. Stefan Spring
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  2. Dennis A. Bazylinski
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology, University of Minnesota, Box 196, Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN 55455-0312, USA

    Martin Dworkin Professor Dr. (Editor-in-Chief) (Editor-in-Chief)

  2. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University Medical School, 299 Campus Drive, Fairchild, D039, Stanford, CA, 94305-5124, USA

    Stanley Falkow

  3. Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology, Tel Aviv University, Ramat-Aviv, 69978, Israel

    Eugene Rosenberg

  4. Department of Microbiology, Technical University Munich, 80290, Munich, Germany

    Karl-Heinz Schleifer

  5. DSMZ- German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures GmbH, Mascheroder Weg 1b, 38124, Braunschweig, Germany

    Erko Stackebrandt

1 Electronic Supplementary Material

978-0-387-30742-8_26_MOESM1_ESM.mov

Sequence showing magnetotactic spirilla displaying axial magnetotaxis

978-0-387-30742-8_26_MOESM2_ESM.mov

Sequence showing magnetotactic cocci displaying polar magnetotaxis

Sequence showing the typical “ping-pong” motility of the MMP

Sequence showing magnetotactic spirilla displaying axial magnetotaxis

Sequence showing magnetotactic cocci displaying polar magnetotaxis

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Spring, S., Bazylinski, D.A. (2006). Magnetotactic Bacteria. In: Dworkin, M., Falkow, S., Rosenberg, E., Schleifer, KH., Stackebrandt, E. (eds) The Prokaryotes. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-30742-7_26

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