The unique ability of magnetotactic bacteria to navigate along a geomagnetic field is accomplished with the help of prokaryotic organelles, magnetosomes. The magnetosomes have well-ordered chain-like structures, comprising membrane-enveloped, nano-sized magnetic crystals, and various types of specifically associated proteins. In this study, we applied atomic force microscopy (AFM) to investigat...

A promising avenue of research in materials science is to follow the strategies used by Mother Nature to fabricate ornate hierarchical structures as exemplified by organisms such as diatoms, sponges and magnetotactic bacteria. Some of the strategies used in the biological world to create functional inorganic materials may well have practical implications in the world of nanomaterials. The aim o...

Magnetotactic bacteria have the potential to execute nontrivial tasks, such as microactuation, micromanipulation, and microassembly, under the influence of the controlled magnetic fields. Closed-loop control characteristics of these magnetic microorganisms depend on their self-propulsion forces (motility) and magnetic dipole moments. These properties can be controlled through the growth conditi...

We investigated the enzymatic reduction and oxidation of iron in M.magnetotacticum which synthesizes magnetite at room temperature. NADH-Fe(lI1) reductase with the molecular mass of 36kDa was purified from the bacterium. The enzyme was located in cytoplasm and utilized NADH and NADPH in the presence of FMN as reductant and showed maximum activity at pH 7.0. The Km for NADH and NADPH were about ...