Abstract
Magnetotactic bacteria are microorganisms that produce magnetic particles surrounded by a lipid bilayer membrane with proteins. Since the size and morphology of these particles are uniform, it is thought that magnetic particles are morphologically controlled within the bacteria. The Mms6 protein was isolated from the surface of cubo-octahedral magnetic particles formed in the Magnetospirillum magneticum strain AMB-1. By using Mms6, cubo-octahedral magnetic particles were synthesized in vitro. Furthermore, the analysis of the mms6 gene-deletion mutant of magnetotactic bacteria indicated that Mms6 plays a role in the in vivo regulation of magnetic crystal morphology during crystal growth. Thus, Mms6 can be used to synthesize morphologically controlled magnetic materials under normal temperature and pressure conditions.
