Blakemore.Magnetotactic.Bacteria
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Magnetotactic Bacteria Author(s): Richard Blakemore Source: Science, New Series, Vol. 190, No. 4212 (Oct. 24, 1975), pp. 377-379 Published by: American Association for the Advancement of Science Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1741081 . Accessed: 12/07/2011 23:51 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=aaas. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. American Association for the Advancement of Science is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Science. http://www.jstor.org cussion. First, the remarkable precision of 8. T. R. Marshall, C. S. Parmenter, M. Seaver, in finite cylinders. Diameters can be found with pre- preparation. cisions better than one-half percent. size determination at resonance is on a rel- 9. The values d = 2.956 Am and m = 1.581 are given 11. Contribution No. 2632 from the Chemical Labora- ative basis only. It presumes that m is by the manufacturer (Dow Chemical Co., Mid- tories of Indiana University. Supported by the Na- land, Michigan). The batch number is unknown. tional Science Foundation. C.S.P. appreciates the fixed, and therefore any uncertainty in in 10. W. A. Farone and M. Kerker [J. Opt. Soc. Am. help of E. C. Hartman in the formative stages of the absolute In trials to 56, 481 (1966)] and D. Cooke and M. Kerker this work degrades precision. [Rev. Sci. Instrum. 39, 320 (1968)] have character- determine both m and d simultaneously at ized nonresonance differential scattering from in- 16 June 1975 resonance, the precision of each seems lim- ited to about 0.5 percent. This is also what we find for nonresonant scattering. Sec- ond, the relationship of "optical" diame- Magnetotactic Bacteria ters determined at resonance to "physical" diameters is not entirely clear, particularly Abstract. Bacteria with motility directed by the local geomagneticfield have been ob- when relative precisions of a few ang- served in marine sediments. These magnetotactic microorganisms possess flagella and stroms are considered. In polystyrene contain novel structured particles, rich in iron, within intracytoplasmic membrane vesi- aerosols ranging from about I to 3 gm, di- cles. Conceivably these particles impart to cells a magnetic moment. This could explain ameters determined by our optical method the observed migration of these organisms infields as weak as 0.5 gauss. (away from resonances) match those from physical methods and electron microscopy Few studies have unequivocally revealed During attempts to isolate Spirochaeta to within a few percent (7, 8). effects of the earth's magnetic field on liv- plicatilis from marine marsh muds (3), I The sensitivity of scattering to particle ing organisms, although recent work in- observed microorganisms which rapidly parameters at resonance can be either a dicates that birds (1) and elasmobranchs migrated (4) toward one side of drops of useful tool or a liability. It is clearly the (2) detect and may use geomagnetism as a the mud transferred to microscope slides latter if resonances within the range of cue for orientation. I now describe a bacte- (Fig. 1). I presumed this to be a phototactic aerosol parameters are not recognized. rial tactic response to magnetic fields, a response toward light from a northwest Techniques based on differential scattering phenomenon for which the term magneto- laboratory window. It became apparent, in particular may be subject to substantial taxis is appropriate. however, that light was not the stimulus di- errors if one is not careful (8). On the other recting the migration of these organisms as hand, the availability of tunable mono- cells aggregated at the same side of mud chromatic light sources makes these reso- of the distribution of O SEC ? . ,* drops regardless light nances generally accessible for many sys- on the slides, as well as in the dark. The di- tems. Since the effects of resonance occur rection in which these organisms moved for absorbing as well as nonabsorbing immediately changed when small magnets particles, and since they should be seen were moved about in the vicinity of the mi- with cylindrical objects (10) as well as A croscope preparations. This suggested that r N spheres, numerous applications are pos- A--;,,^ geomagnetism was the stimulus for the be- *v.* *> s * v- 1- + sible. The phenomenon might be used to havior of the cells. It was experimentally detect extremely small changes in the di- confirmed that the migration of the bac- mensions of a scatterer due to externally teria was, indeed, directed by the earth's applied stress or modifications to its envi- magnetic field (5). ronment, or to changes in its composition. Magnetotactic organisms were present The effect might also be used as a contin- in surface sediments collected from salt . uous monitor in the manufacturing of SEC marshes of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and wires or fibers optical requiring a precise IB in surface layers of sedimentary cores col- maintenance of the diameter or refractive lected from a depth of 15 m in Buzzards index. It is also possible that resonant scat- Bay. Population densities in these environ- tering may be a useful tool for studying ments ranged from 200 to 1000 cells per regularly shaped nonspherical particles in milliliter. Mud samples placed under sev- biological systems. eral centimeters of seawater in glass jars THOMASR. MARSHALL and kept in dim light in the laboratory un- CHARLESS. PARMENTER derwent an ecological succession (3). Pop- MARK SEAVER ulations of magnetotactic organisms in- Department of Chemistry, Indiana creased to hundreds of thousands of cells 1. frames recorded University, Bloomington 47401 Fig.quential Cinematographic sequenceon Kodakof Tri-X bacteria re- per milliliter in many such mud samples displayingmagnetotaxis. Portions of three se- after several months to several years of References and Notes quentialframes recordedon Kodak Tri-X re- versal 16-mm movie film at 18 frames storage. Magnetotactic bacteria were 1. M. The per sec- Kerker, Scattering of Light and Other with a Zeiss RA 38 distributed in surface of the Electromagnetic Radiation (Academic Press, New ond, microscope. The im- evenly layers York, 1969), pp. 50, 94-96. ages shown were photographically reversed and stored muds even though the jars were po- 2. H. C. van de Hulst, Light Scattering by Small enlarged. (A) Freely swimming magnetotactic Particles New York, 151 sitioned for long periods in the same geo- (Wiley, 1957), pp. 127, bacteria aggregated at the northern extremity of 158. graphic orientation. Apparently factors 3. E. J. Meehan, J. Colloid Interface Sci. 49, 146 a water drop by responding to geomagnetism. (1974). At the time of recording, a small permanent additional to magnetotaxis also determine 4. For example, see pp. 97--127 in (1). magnet was used to reverse the field. the distribution of the in 5. J. Tima and F. T. the magnetic organisms natural Gucker, Proceedings of 2nd The cells then in the International Clean Air Congress (Academic migrated opposite direction environments, since larger populations of New as recorded in frames Press, York, 1971), p. 463. (B) (0.5 second or 9 bacteria were not detected 6. F. T. Gucker, J. Tuma, H.-M. Lin, C.-M. Huang, frames and 1 second or 18 magnetotactic S. later) (C) (recorded C. Ems, T. R. Marshall, J. Aerosol Sci. 4, 389 frames The arrow in the northern areas of a marsh as com- (1973). later). indicates the direction 7. T. R. Marshall, C. S. Parmenter, M. Seaver, Natl. of the earth's north geomagnetic pole (bar, 100 pared to other locations in the marsh. Bur. Stand. (U.S.) Spec. Publ. 412 (1974), p. 41. gm). The organisms have not yet been iso- 24 OCTOBER 1975 377 lated and grown in pure culture. I obtained nisms which rapidly migrated to the sea- and B). Each bundle consisted of approxi- purified cell suspensions for electron mi- water drop were collected with micropipets mately seven flagella which were inserted croscopic examination by taking advan- and prepared for electron microscopy. in a disk-shaped structure (Fig. 2B, arrows) tage of the cells' magnetotactic behavior. I Magnetotactic cells were roughly spher- similar to those present in Ectothiorhodos- placed drops of seawater in contact with ical and averaged 1 um in diameter (Fig. pira mobilis (6). Two chains, each con- the northern edge of drops of mud enrich- 2, A to C). Two bundles of flagella were sisting of approximately five to ten elec- ment material on microscope slides. Orga- observed at one side of the cell (Fig. 2, A tron-opaque crystal-like particles, charac- terized magnetotactic cells (Fig. 2, A to D). In chemically fixed, thin-sectioned mag- netotactic bacteria, these chains of parti- cles were found to be internal cell com- 'k i~~~~~~~~~~54j~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~C &M ponents (Fig.