McaA and McaB control the dynamic positioning of a bacterial magnetic organelle

Abstract

Magnetotactic bacteria use intracellular chains of ferrimagnetic nanocrystals, produced within magnetosome organelles, to align and navigate along the geomagnetic field. Here, Wan et al. identify two proteins involved in magnetosome positioning in Magnetospirillum magneticum, homologs of which are widespread among magnetotactic bacteria.