Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 25, 2026

Growing Magnetotactic Bacteria of the Genus Magnetospirillum: Strains MSR-1, AMB-1 and MS-1
Published on: October 17, 2018
Bacterial magnetosome and its potential application
Lei Yan1, Huiyun Da1, Shuang Zhang1
1Heilongjiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Microbiology and Recycling of Argo-Waste in Cold Region, College of Life Science and Technology, Heilongjiang Bayi Agricultural University, Daqing, 163319, PR China.
Abstract:
Bacterial magnetosome, synthetized by magnetosome-producing microorganisms including magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) and some non-magnetotactic bacteria (Non-MTB), is a new type of material comprising magnetic nanocrystals surrounded by a phospholipid bilayer. Because of the special properties such as single magnetic domain, excellent biocompatibility and surface modification, bacterial magnetosome has become an increasingly attractive for researchers in biology, medicine, paleomagnetism, geology and environmental science. This review briefly describes the general feature of magnetosome-producing microorganisms. This article also highlights recent advances in the understanding of the biochemical and magnetic characteristics of bacterial magnetosome, as well as the magnetosome formation mechanism including iron ions uptake, magnetosome membrane formation, biomineralization and magnetosome chain assembly. Finally, this review presents the potential applications of bacterial magnetosome in biomedicine, wastewater treatment, and the significance of mineralization of magnetosome in biology and geology.
Related Concept Videos
Other Unique Bacteria
Magnetism
An individual magnetic pole cannot be isolated. No matter how small, every piece of a magnet contains a north pole and a south...
Applications Of NMR In Biology
Cell Inclusions
Proteomics
Proteomics is the study of proteomes' function. It involves the large-scale systematic study of the proteome to denote the protein complement expressed by a genome. Scientist Mark Wilkins coined the term...
Ferromagnetism

