趋磁细菌(MTB)依赖于体内磁小体结构在磁场中取向,多个磁小体以一定的组织形式排列是形成菌体内生物磁罗盘的重要环节.多数趋磁细菌中磁小体成链排列,有效增加了细胞磁偶极矩,从而使菌体表现出在环境磁场中定向的能力.趋磁螺菌M.magneticum AMB-1和M.gryphiswaldense MSR-1中磁小体均沿细胞长轴形成一条磁小体链.通过对相关基因突变体表型的研究,结合对磁小体链形成过程的实时动态观察,人们已初步了解MamJ、MamK和MamA等基因在磁小体链装配和维护过程中的功能.本文介绍了近年来趋磁螺菌磁小体链装配过程中重要功能性基因的研究进展,并重点分析了AMB-1和MSR-1中磁小体链装配的差异.
Magnetotactic bacteria(MTB) rely on magnetosomes for their orientation and navigation in geomagnetic field.It is important for MTB to organize magnetosomes to form their biomagnetic compass.The magnetosomes are arranged effectively in chains in most MTB species,thus to increase the magnetic dipole moment of cells and enable the bacteria to orientate in environmental magnetic field.M.magneticum AMB-1 and M.gryphiswaldense MSR-1 are both known to form a single-chain magnetosomes along the cell's long axes.Recently,mutational analyses and time-lapsed experiments have discovered other novel genes,including MamJ,MamK and MamA,that are functionally involved in the magnetosome chain assembly.In this report,the study about these genes with the focus on the differences of their functions between AMB-1 and MSR-1 during of magnetosome chain assembly are described.