Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 1 of 1
Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Magnetosome Genes In The Gammaproteobacterium Strain Bw-2, Lucero Rivera, Denis Trubitsyn, Dennis A. Bazylinski
Magnetosome Genes In The Gammaproteobacterium Strain Bw-2, Lucero Rivera, Denis Trubitsyn, Dennis A. Bazylinski
Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)
Magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) biomineralize intracellular nanometer-sized, magnetic crystals surrounded by a lipid bilayer membrane known as magnetosomes. These crystals, which consist of magnetite (Fe3O4) or greigite (Fe3S4), causes the cell to align along the geomagnetic field lines as they swim, a phenomenon known as magnetotaxis. Strain BW-2 is a magnetite-producing magnetotactic bacterium isolated from Badwater Basin, Death Valley National Park (California) and is one of only two species of MTB that are known to phylogenetically belong to the Gammaproteobacteria class of the Proteobacteria phylum. The biomineralization of magnetite in magnetotactic bacteria is mediated by a series of genes that include …