What is it about?
We showed, for the first time, manganese dopping of bacterial single domain magnetite crystals
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Why is it important?
Single domain magnetite produced by magnetotactic bacteria show special structural and chemical characteristics, which enable recognition after the bacterial cell is gone, i.e., they can be recognized as fossils in both terrestrial and extraterrestrial samples. One claimed characteristic was chemical purity, i.e., absence of chemical elements other than iron and oxygen. In this work, we showed magnetosomes containing also manganese. Thus, chemical purity can no longer be claimed as a necessary character to consider a magnetite crystal as biogenic, or a fossil from a magnetotactic microorganism.
Perspectives
Magnetofossils have been used as paleoclimate indicators in the Earth, and also to evaluate the possibility of past life on Mars. Recognition of a magnetite crystal as a magnetofossil is the first step, relying on size within the single-domain range, elongated shape, lack of crystallographic deffects, and organization in chains. Chemical purity is not considered a proxy for biogenicity anymore.
Dr. Carolina Neumann Keim
Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro
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This page is a summary of: Manganese in biogenic magnetite crystals from magnetotactic bacteria, FEMS Microbiology Letters, March 2009, Oxford University Press (OUP),
DOI: 10.1111/j.1574-6968.2009.01499.x.
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