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Recover vigorous cells of Magnetospirillum magneticum AMB-1 by capillary magnetic separation

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Abstract

Cultivable magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) in laboratory can provide sufficient samples for molecular microbiological and magnetic studies. However, a cold-stored MTB strain, such as Magnetospirillum magneticum AMB-1, often loses its ability to synthesize magnetosomes and consequently fails to sense the external magnetic field. It is therefore important to quickly recover vigorous bacteria cells that highly capable of magnetosome producing. In this study, a modified capillary magnetic separation system was designed to recover a deteriorating strain of Magnetospirillum magneticum AMB-1 that long-term cold-stored in a refrigerator. The results show that all cells obtained after a 3-cycle treatment were vigorous and had the ability to produce magnetosomes. Moreover, the 3rd-cycle recovered cells were able to form more magnetosome crystals. Compared with the colony formation method, this new method is time-saving, easily operated, and more efficient for recovering vigorous MTB cells.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Jinan, 250100, China

    Jinhua Li  (李金华), Xin Ge  (葛欣) & Guanjun Chen  (陈冠军)

  2. Biogeomagnetism Group, Paleomagnetism and Geochronology Laboratory (SKL-LE), Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China

    Jinhua Li  (李金华) & Yongxin Pan  (潘永信)

  3. Marine College, Shandong University at Weihai, Weihai, 264209, China

    Xiaokui Zhang  (张小葵)

Authors
  1. Jinhua Li  (李金华)
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  2. Xin Ge  (葛欣)
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  3. Xiaokui Zhang  (张小葵)
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  4. Guanjun Chen  (陈冠军)
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  5. Yongxin Pan  (潘永信)
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Guanjun Chen  (陈冠军).

Additional information

Supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province, China (No. 2006ZRB01973), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 40821091, 40325011).

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Li, J., Ge, X., Zhang, X. et al. Recover vigorous cells of Magnetospirillum magneticum AMB-1 by capillary magnetic separation. Chin. J. Ocean. Limnol. 28, 826–831 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00343-010-9068-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00343-010-9068-4

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