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Identification of Iron Transporters Expressed in the Magnetotactic Bacterium Magnetospirillum magnetotacticum

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Abstract

The magnetotactic bacterium Magnetospirillum magnetotacticum MS-1 mineralizes the magnetite (Fe3O4) crystal and organizes a highly ordered intracellular structure, called the magnetosome. However, the iron transport system, which supports the biogenesis of magnetite, is not fully understood. In this study, we first identified the expressions of both the ferric and the ferrous iron transporter proteins in M. magnetotacticum. The cellular protein compositions of ferric and ferrous iron-rich cultures were examined using two-dimensional electrophoresis. According to the gel patterns, two outer-membrane ferric-siderophore receptor homologues were identified as proteins strongly induced in the ferrous iron-rich condition. Also, we identified for the first time that the ferrous iron transport protein, FeoB, is expressed in the M. magnetotacticum cytoplasmic membrane using immunoblotting.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a Human Frontier Science Program Research Grant (RGP0035/2004-C104) to Y.F. and a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Priority Areas (16087205) to Y.F. from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Life Science, Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Kanazawa University, Kakuma-machi, Kanazawa, 920-1192, Japan

    Azuma Taoka, Chihiro Umeyama & Yoshihiro Fukumori

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  1. Azuma Taoka
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  2. Chihiro Umeyama
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  3. Yoshihiro Fukumori
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Correspondence to Yoshihiro Fukumori.

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Taoka, A., Umeyama, C. & Fukumori, Y. Identification of Iron Transporters Expressed in the Magnetotactic Bacterium Magnetospirillum magnetotacticum . Curr Microbiol 58, 177–181 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-008-9305-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-008-9305-7

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