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Occurrence and microscopic analyses of multicellular magnetotactic prokaryotes from coastal sediments in the Yellow Sea

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Abstract

Multicellular magnetotactic prokaryotes (MMPs) are a group of aggregates composed of 7–45 gram-negative cells synthesizing intracellular magnetic crystals. Although they are thought to be globally distributed, MMPs have been observed only in marine environments in America and Europe. Most MMPs share a rosette-like morphology and biomineralize iron sulfide crystals. In the present study, abundant MMPs were observed, with a density of 26 ind./cm3, in the sediments of a coastal lagoon, Lake Yuehu, in the Yellow Sea. Optical microscopy showed that all of them were rosette shaped with a diameter of 5.5±0.8 μm. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that these MMPs were composed of 10–16 ovoid cells and flagellated peritrichously. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray analysis indicated that they biomineralized bullet-shaped magnetite crystals in highly organized parallel chains within which the magnetosomes were oriented in the same direction. This is the first report of MMPs from Asia and demonstrates the ubiquitous distribution of MMPs.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai, 264003, China

    Ke Zhou  (周克)

  2. Key Laboratory of Marine Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, 266071, China

    Ke Zhou  (周克), Hongmiao Pan  (潘红苗), Haidong Yue  (岳海东) & Tian Xiao  (肖天)

  3. Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Ke Zhou  (周克)

  4. College of Marine Life Science, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266003, China

    Shengda Zhang  (张圣妲) & Longfei Wu  (吴龙飞)

  5. France-China Bio-Mineralization and Nano-Structures Laboratory, Beijing, 100029, China

    Tian Xiao  (肖天) & Longfei Wu  (吴龙飞)

  6. Laboratoire de Chimie Bacterienne, Université de la Méditerranée Aix-Marseille II, CNRS, Marseille, France

    Longfei Wu  (吴龙飞)

Authors
  1. Ke Zhou  (周克)
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  2. Hongmiao Pan  (潘红苗)
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  3. Shengda Zhang  (张圣妲)
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  4. Haidong Yue  (岳海东)
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  5. Tian Xiao  (肖天)
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  6. Longfei Wu  (吴龙飞)
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Tian Xiao  (肖天) or Longfei Wu  (吴龙飞).

Additional information

Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 40906069, 40776094), the Haiwaijiechuxuezhe-Fund of Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. 2006-1-15), and K. C. WONG Education Foundation

ZHOU Ke and PAN Hongmiao contributed equally to this work

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Zhou, K., Pan, H., Zhang, S. et al. Occurrence and microscopic analyses of multicellular magnetotactic prokaryotes from coastal sediments in the Yellow Sea. Chin. J. Ocean. Limnol. 29, 246–251 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00343-011-0032-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00343-011-0032-8

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