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Updated: Jun 13, 2026

Growing Magnetotactic Bacteria of the Genus Magnetospirillum: Strains MSR-1, AMB-1 and MS-1
Published on: October 17, 2018
Cell division in magnetotactic bacteria splits magnetosome chain in half
Sarah S Staniland1, Cristina Moisescu, Liane G Benning
1School of Physics & Astronomy, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK. S.S.Staniland@leeds.ac.uk
None:
Cell division in magnetotactic bacteria has attracted much interest, speculation and hypothesis with respect to the biomineralised chains of magnetic iron-oxide particles known as magnetosomes. Here we report direct Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) evidence that division occurs at a central point of the cell and the chain, cleaving the magnetosome chain in two. Additionally, the new magnetosome chain relocates rapidly to the centre of the daughter cell and the number of magnetosomes is directly proportional to the cell length, even during the division part of the cell cycle.
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