Welcome to the new version of CaltechAUTHORS. Login is currently restricted to library staff. If you notice any issues, please email coda@library.caltech.edu
Published March 16, 2004 | Published
Journal Article Open

Magnetosome vesicles are present before magnetite formation, and MamA is required for their activation

Abstract

Bacterial magnetosomes are intracellular compartments that house highly ordered magnetite crystals. By using Magnetospirillum sp. AMB-1 as a model system, we show that magnetosome vesicles exist in the absence of magnetite, biomineralization of magnetite proceeds simultaneously in multiple vesicles, and biomineralization proceeds from the same location in each vesicle. The magnetosome-associated protein, MamA, is required for the formation of functional magnetosome vesicles and displays a dynamic subcellular localization throughout the growth cycle of magnetotactic bacteria. Together, these results suggest that the magnetosome precisely coordinates magnetite biomineralization and can serve as a model system for the study of organelle biogenesis in noneukaryotic cells.

Additional Information

© 2004 by the National Academy of Sciences. Communicated by John Abelson, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, January 16, 2004 (received for review November 11, 2003). Published online before print March 2, 2004, 10.1073/pnas.0400391101 We thank D. Moyles for assistance with electron microscopy; S. Chiang for providing the PSC189 plasmid; M. S. Simon and J. Kirschvink for thoughtful discussions and endless enthusiasm for this project; and J. Mui and Dr. S. K. Sears of the McGill Facility for Electron Microscopy Research for assistance. D.K.N. is supported by grants from the Packard Foundation and the Luce Foundation. A.K. is a Senior Research Fellow of the Beckman Institute and is supported by the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation. H.V. acknowledges financial support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. T.J.B. is funded through grants from the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the U.S. Department of Energy Natural and Accelerated Bioremediation Research program. Electron microscopy was performed at the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Guelph Regional Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy Facility at the University of Guelph, which is partially funded through a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Major Facilities Access grant (to T.J.B.). Data deposition: The sequence reported in this paper has been deposited in the GenBank database (accession no. AY508230).

Attached Files

Published - KOMpnas04.pdf

Files

KOMpnas04.pdf
Files (406.6 kB)
Name Size Download all
md5:e94c59d4d79a92def89c18e5fa6c3b54
406.6 kB Preview Download

Additional details

Created:
August 22, 2023
Modified:
October 13, 2023