Sensing of magnetic fields by living organisms -- magnetosensing -- is best understood in magnetotactic bacteria. Recently work has provided new insight into the biogenesis of bacterial magnetosomes, and links these organelles to a newly recognized prokaryotic cytoskeletal filament which organizes magnetosomes into a sensory structure capable of aligning cells with the geomagnetic field.

BACKGROUND Magnetotactic bacteria have long intrigued researchers because they synthesize intracellular nano-scale (40-100 nm) magnetic particles composed of Fe3O4, termed magnetosomes. Current research focuses on the molecular mechanisms of bacterial magnetosome formation and its practical applications in biotechnology and medicine. Practical applications of magnetosomes are based on their fer...

Magnetotactic bacteria orient and migrate along geomagnetic field lines. Magneto-aerotaxis increases the efficiency of respiring microaerophilic cells to efficiently find and maintain a position at a preferred microaerobic oxygen concentration. Magneto-aerotaxis could also facilitate access to regions of higher nutrient and electron acceptor concentration via periodic excursions above and below...

Magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) form intracellular chain-assembled nanocrystals of magnetite or greigite termed magnetosomes. The characterization of magnetosome crystals requires electron microscopy due to their nanoscopic sizes. However, electron microscopy does not provide phylogenetic information for MTB. We have developed a strategy for the simultaneous and rapid phylogenetic and biomineralog...

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...

Current NDT techniques are capable of identifying sub millimetre defects in structural materials. Nanoscale NDT however, necessitates development of new techniques for identifying and sizing surface and more importantly subsurface imperfections. The reliability of micro and especially nano scale components heavily depends on such new developments. This paper presents a first attempt to explore ...

Magnetotactic bacteria navigate along magnetic field lines using well-ordered chains of membrane-enclosed magnetic crystals, referred to as magnetosomes, which have emerged as model to investigate organelle biogenesis in prokaryotic systems. To become divided and segregated faithfully during cytokinesis, the magnetosome chain has to be properly positioned, cleaved and separated against intracha...

Although membrane-bounded compartments are commonly considered a unique eukaryotic characteristic, many species of bacteria have organelles. Compartmentalization is well studied in eukaryotes; however, the molecular factors and processes leading to organelle formation in bacteria are poorly understood. We use the magnetosome compartments of magnetotactic bacteria as a model system to investigat...