AUTHOR=Pósfai Mihály , Lefèvre Christopher , Trubitsyn Denis , Bazylinski Dennis A., Frankel Richard 

TITLE=Phylogenetic significance of composition and crystal morphology of magnetosome minerals

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=4

YEAR=2013

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2013.00344

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2013.00344

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>Magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) biomineralize magnetosomes, nano-scale crystals of magnetite or greigite in membrane enclosures that comprise a permanent magnetic dipole in each cell. MTB control the mineral composition, habit, size, and crystallographic orientation of the magnetosomes, as well as their arrangement within the cell. Studies involving magnetosomes that contain mineral and biological phases require multidisciplinary efforts. Here we use crystallographic, genomic and phylogenetic perspectives to review the correlations between magnetosome mineral habits and the phylogenetic affiliations of MTB, and show that these correlations have important implications for the evolution of magnetosome synthesis, and thus magnetotaxis.</p>