molecular biomineralization aquatic organisms forming extraordinary materials

[...]... knowledge of magnetite biomineralization in these bacteria We highlight the extraordinary properties of magnetosomes and some resulting potential applications D Faivre (*) Department of Biomaterials, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Wissenschaftspark Golm, Potsdam 14424, Germany e-mail: damien.faivre@mpikg.mpg.de W.E.G M€ller (ed.), Molecular Biomineralization, Progress in Molecular u and... marine calcite -forming unicellular organisms have been shown to be able to regulate pH above 9 within intracellular vesicles (de Nooijer et al 2009) This finding suggests that other single-cell aquatic organisms, and therefore MTB, may be able to regulate pH within this range Two alternative magnetosome formation pathways have been proposed since the discovery of bacterial magnetite biomineralization. .. non-magnetotactic organisms, require micromolar levels for growth, yet many aquatic environments provide much less Thus, organisms have developed means to accumulate the necessary amounts of iron from their respective environments (Sandy and Butler 2009) Natural MTB habitats are freshwater or marine sediments with typically micromolar concentrations of soluble iron (Flies et al 2005) Due to the biomineralization. .. adhesion (Arakaki et al 2003) All these approaches give us a first glimpse in comprehending the molecular basis of magnetite biomineralization, but many details remain poorly understood 1.3 Magnetosomes As only magnetite -forming bacteria have been obtained in axenic culture so far, our knowledge about the chemistry, molecular biology, and genetics has mainly been obtained from these strains Future studies... Since then, the subject of magnetosome biomineralization has evolved into an interdisciplinary and unique field of research The aim of this review is to give a broad overview of the current state of knowledge on the bacteria with an emphasis on the materials that are formed Thus, we will point out the given properties that make this material so special, and explain the molecular processes that enable such... strengthening of tissues (Frankel and Blakemore 1991) and hardening of teeth (Lowenstam 1967) One of the most intriguing examples for the aquatic biomineralization of iron oxides and biomineral formation, in general, is represented by the synthesis of magnetic minerals in prokaryotes Biomineralization has been divided into two distinct fields: Extracellularly bio-induced formation (Frankel and Bazylinski 2003)... geomagnetic navigation in their aquatic habitats (Bazylinski and Frankel 2004) The magnetosomes comprise membrane-enveloped, nano-sized crystals of either the magnetic iron oxide magnetite, Fe3O4 (Frankel et al 1979) or the magnetic iron sulfide greigite, Fe3S4 (Farina et al 1990; Mann et al 1990) The magnetosomes are arranged in one or more intracellular chains by a recently discovered molecular mechanism (Komeili... magnetosome organelle, which is achieved by a high degree of control over the biomineralization of perfectly shaped and sized magnetic crystals Moreover, in MTB this process also includes the assembly into hierarchically structured chains to serve most efficiently as a magnetic field actuator The unique characteristics of magnetosome biomineralization have attracted multidisciplinary interest and might be... Biology 52, DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-21230-7_1, # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011 3 4 1.1 J Baumgartner and D Faivre Introduction Iron biominerals are formed by a broad range of terrestrial and aquatic organisms, in which they serve various functions The best known function is magnetoreception, i.e., the ability to detect a magnetic field (Johnsen and Lohmann 2005) Magnetite-based magnetoreception... et al 1990; Rodgers et al 1990) (Table 1.1) 1.2.3 Genetics To understand what distinguishes magnetotactic bacteria from non-magnetotactic species, their molecular biology and genetics have been studied in recent years, providing new insights into biomineralization Genetic information has been obtained from the freshwater species M magneticum (Matsunaga et al 2005), M gryphiswaldense (Ullrich et al . Mu ¨ ller and M.A. Grachev (Eds.) Werner E.G. Mu ¨ ller Editor Molecular Biomineralization Aquatic Organisms Forming Extraordinary Materials Editor Prof.Dr. Werner E.G. Mu ¨ ller Universita ¨ t. prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms. This book of the series Progress in Molecular and Subcellular Biology gives a survey on the most recent developments in the field of Molecular Biomineralization high- lighting. phosphate biominerals in a variety of aquatic (invertebrate and vertebrate) organisms. Special emphasis is on the role of organic matrix proteins in the biomineralization of the Echinoderm calcite