A Cultured Greigite-Producing Magnetotactic Bacterium in a Novel Group of Sulfate-Reducing Bacteria.

The article reports on the characterization of magnetotactic bacteria found in brackish water in Death Valley National Park, California. The bacteria was cultured and found to be capable of the biomineralization of magnetic greigite and magnetite particles. Phylogenetic analysis suggested that the bacteria contained separate magnetosome (mam) genes for greigite and magnetite and led to the classification of the organism as part of a group of sulfate-reducing bacteria from the Deltoproteobacteria.