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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, October 2001, p. 4573-4582, Vol. 67, No. 10
0099-2240/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/AEM.67.10.4573-4582.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

A Large Gene Cluster Encoding Several Magnetosome Proteins Is Conserved in Different Species of Magnetotactic Bacteria

Karen Grünberg,1 Cathrin Wawer,1 Bradley M. Tebo,2 and Dirk Schüler1,*

Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, 28359 Bremen, Germany,1 and Marine Biology Research Division and Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093-02022

Received 27 April 2001/Accepted 1 August 2001

In magnetotactic bacteria, a number of specific proteins are associated with the magnetosome membrane (MM) and may have a crucial role in magnetite biomineralization. We have cloned and sequenced the genes of several of these polypeptides in the magnetotactic bacterium Magnetospirillum gryphiswaldense that could be assigned to two different genomic regions. Except for mamA, none of these genes have been previously reported to be related to magnetosome formation. Homologous genes were found in the genome sequences of M. magnetotacticum and magnetic coccus strain MC-1. The MM proteins identified display homology to tetratricopeptide repeat proteins (MamA), cation diffusion facilitators (MamB), and HtrA-like serine proteases (MamE) or bear no similarity to known proteins (MamC and MamD). A major gene cluster containing several magnetosome genes (including mamA and mamB) was found to be conserved in all three of the strains investigated. The mamAB cluster also contains additional genes that have no known homologs in any nonmagnetic organism, suggesting a specific role in magnetosome formation.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Max-Planck-Institut für marine Mikrobiologie, Celsiusstr. 1, 28 359 Bremen, Germany. Phone: 49-(0)421-2028-746. Fax: 49-(0)421-2028-580. E-mail: dschuele{at}mpi-bremen.de.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, October 2001, p. 4573-4582, Vol. 67, No. 10
0099-2240/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/AEM.67.10.4573-4582.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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