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Journal of Bacteriology, October 2003, p. 5779-5790, Vol. 185, No. 19
0021-9193/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.185.19.5779-5790.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Characterization of a Spontaneous Nonmagnetic Mutant of Magnetospirillum gryphiswaldense Reveals a Large Deletion Comprising a Putative Magnetosome Island

Sabrina Schübbe,1 Michael Kube,2 André Scheffel,1 Cathrin Wawer,1 Udo Heyen,1 Anke Meyerdierks,1 Mohamed H. Madkour,3 Frank Mayer,3 Richard Reinhardt,2 and Dirk Schüler1*

Max-Planck-Institut für Marine Mikrobiologie, 28359 Bremen,1 Max-Planck Institut für Molekulare Genetik, 14195 Berlin,2 Institut für Mikrobiologie und Genetik der Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, 37077 Göttingen, Germany3

Received 15 May 2003/ Accepted 18 July 2003

Frequent spontaneous loss of the magnetic phenotype was observed in stationary-phase cultures of the magnetotactic bacterium Magnetospirillum gryphiswaldense MSR-1. A nonmagnetic mutant, designated strain MSR-1B, was isolated and characterized. The mutant lacked any structures resembling magnetosome crystals as well as internal membrane vesicles. The growth of strain MSR-1B was impaired under all growth conditions tested, and the uptake and accumulation of iron were drastically reduced under iron-replete conditions. A large chromosomal deletion of approximately 80 kb was identified in strain MSR-1B, which comprised both the entire mamAB and mamDC clusters as well as further putative operons encoding a number of magnetosome-associated proteins. A bacterial artificial chromosome clone partially covering the deleted region was isolated from the genomic library of wild-type M. gryphiswaldense. Sequence analysis of this fragment revealed that all previously identified mam genes were closely linked with genes encoding other magnetosome-associated proteins within less than 35 kb. In addition, this region was remarkably rich in insertion elements and harbored a considerable number of unknown gene families which appeared to be specific for magnetotactic bacteria. Overall, these findings suggest the existence of a putative large magnetosome island in M. gryphiswaldense and other magnetotactic bacteria.


* Corresponding author: Mailing address: Max-Planck-Institut für Marine Mikrobiologie, Celsiusstr. 1, 28 359 Bremen, Germany. Phone: 49 (0) 421-2028-746. Fax: 49 (0) 421-2028-580. E-mail: dschuele{at}mpi-bremen.de.


Journal of Bacteriology, October 2003, p. 5779-5790, Vol. 185, No. 19
0021-9193/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.185.19.5779-5790.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.




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