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Bacterial Cell Biology: Managing Magnetosomes, Craig Stephens

Biology

Sensing of magnetic fields by living organisms — magnetosensing — is best understood in magnetotactic bacteria. Recently work has provided new insight into the biogenesis of bacterial magnetosomes, and links these organelles to a newly recognized prokaryotic cytoskeletal filament which organizes magnetosomes into a sensory structure capable of aligning cells with the geomagnetic field.