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Updated: Apr 28, 2026

Purification of the M. magneticum Strain AMB-1 Magnetosome Associated Protein MamAΔ41
Published on: March 25, 2010
Evolution of the bacterial organelle responsible for magnetotaxis
Christopher T Lefèvre1, Long-Fei Wu
1Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives (CEA)/Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)/Aix-Marseille Université, Unité Mixte de Recherche (UMR) 7265 Biologie Végétale et Microbiologie Environnementales, Laboratoire de Bioénergétique Cellulaire, 13108, Saint-Paul-lès-Durance, France.
Abstract:
There are few examples of protein- and lipid-bounded organelles in bacteria that are encoded by conserved gene clusters and lead to a specific function. The magnetosome chain represents one of these rare examples and is responsible for magnetotaxis in magnetotactic bacteria (MTB), a behavior thought to aid in finding their optimal growth conditions. The origin and evolution of the magnetotaxis is still a matter of debate. Recent breakthroughs in isolation, cultivation, single-cell separation, and whole-genome sequencing have generated abundant data that give new insights into the biodiversity and evolution of MTB.
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