Identification of iron transporters expressed in the magnetotactic bacterium Magnetospirillum magnetotacticum.

The magnetotactic bacterium Magnetospirillum magnetotacticum MS-1 mineralizes the magnetite (Fe(3)O(4)) crystal and organizes a highly ordered intracellular structure, called the magnetosome. However, the iron transport system, which supports the biogenesis of magnetite, is not fully understood. In this study, we first identified the expressions of both the ferric and the ferrous iron transporter proteins in M.