INTRODUCTION
Magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) comprise a phylogenetically and morphologically diverse group of Gram-negative aquatic bacteria ubiquitous in both freshwater and marine environments (
1). MTB biomineralize intracellular organelles called magnetosomes, consisting of a nanometer-sized single magnetic domain crystal of magnetite (Fe
3O
4) or greigite (Fe
3S
4) enveloped by a lipid bilayer membrane containing specific proteins involved in the biomineralization process (
2). Magnetosomes are usually arranged as a single or multiple chains within the cell, imparting a net magnetic dipole moment to the cell body, which causes the cell to align along the Earth's or applied magnetic field lines while cells swim propelled by flagella in a behavior called magnetotaxis (
3).
MTB are generally found in their highest numbers at or very close to the oxic-anoxic interface (OAI) of sediments or water columns (
2). The inclination of the geomagnetic field lines other than at the equator appears to make chemotaxis more efficient by limiting random MTB migration in vertical redox and O
2 concentration ([O
2]) gradients in chemically stratified sediments and water columns. The alignment of the cell along the inclined geomagnetic field lines restricts MTB to swimming mainly upward and downward in chemically stratified water columns/sediments, while chemotaxis (e.g., aerotaxis) is used to locate and maintain an optimal position in these gradients away from oxidizing conditions and where electron donors and acceptors are both available (
4,
5). This coordination of magnetotaxis with chemotaxis and redox potential is the most accepted model to explain magnetotaxis thus far (
5).
Aerotaxis was the first chemotactic behavior associated with magnetotaxis (
4), where MTB tend to swim downwards under high [O
2] and upwards under low [O
2] (
4), demonstrating that MTB have a polarity in their swimming direction (
4,
6). Polarity of MTB is defined as the preferred swimming direction of the cells under oxic conditions. In the Northern Hemisphere, most MTB swim northward parallel to the inclination of the Earth's geomagnetic field under oxidizing conditions (high [O
2]) and are called north-seeking (NS) MTB. In the Southern Hemisphere, under oxic conditions, most MTB have a south-seeking (SS) polarity and thus also swim downward (
4). At the geomagnetic equator, NS and SS MTB coexist in approximately equal numbers (
6). Despite the findings described above, there appears to be a minority of cells in one hemisphere that have the opposite polarity (
7). In one interesting case, the majority of a population of a specific MTB in the Northern Hemisphere is SS and appears to respond to high [O
2] by swimming southward (upward) (
7). However, because cells of this MTB, tentatively identified as a close relative to the sulfate-reducing bacterium
Desulforhopalus singaporensis (
Deltaproteobacteria), are located at the OAI of the marine basin where they were found (
7), they must have a mechanism to locate and remain at the OAI, suggesting that magnetotaxis might not work the same way in all MTB.
Phylogenetically, all known MTB belong to the
Alpha-,
Gamma-, and
Deltaproteobacteria classes of the
Proteobacteria phylum (
8–12), the
Nitrospira phylum (
10,
13), the candidate division
Omnitrophica (OP3) of the
Planctomycetes-Verrucomicrobia-Chlamydiae (PVC) superphylum (
14), and possibly the candidate phylum
Latescibacteria (
15) of the
Fibrobacteres-Chlorobi-Bacteroidetes (FCB) superphylum (
16). Identified MTB of the
Gammaproteobacteria class are limited and include two cultured strains isolated from saline lagoons in California (
17) and an uncultured strain present in a freshwater pond in Japan partially characterized using culture-independent methods (
11). Other putative gammaproteobacterial MTB were found in China but identified exclusively based on 16S rRNA gene sequences recovered from a magnetic enrichment of a sample; there was no confirmation that the retrieved sequences were actually from MTB (
18). Here, we characterize a novel MTB belonging to the
Gammaproteobacteria that displays unusual NS magnetotactic behavior in the Southern Hemisphere using culture-independent techniques.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Light microscopy of magnetically harvested MTB revealed two major MTB morphotypes in the Piripiri lagoon samples: vibrio-shaped cells displaying NS behavior (
Fig. 1A), referred to as strain NS-1, and several coccoid morphotypes that were, as expected, SS (
Fig. 1B). Both types of MTB were detected deeper than 1 cm below the water-sediment interface in the anoxic region of the sediment, suggesting both have an anaerobic aspect with respect to metabolism (
Fig. 1C).
Cells of SS-MTB and strain NS-1 were distributed differently along the sediment column (
Fig. 1C). SS-MTB were more abundant between 2 and 3 cm into the sediment but were detected deeper than 3.5 cm below the water-sediment interface. Strain NS-1 was observed in all sediment fractions, with largest number of cells between 2.5 and 3.5 cm into the sediment, deeper than the position of most SS-MTB.
To further characterize strain NS-1, we examined whole intact cells and thin sections of cells using TEM (
Fig. 2). Cells were vibrioid, averaging 2.6 ± 0.8 μm in length. Cells possessed a single flagellum at one pole of the cell (
Fig. 2C). A single chain of elongated prismatic magnetosomes is aligned along the long axis of the cell (
Fig. 2A and
B). Various intracellular granules (
Fig. 2A and
B) are distributed in the cytoplasm. Electron-dense inclusions (
Fig. 2A) were rarely observed and were about 43 ± 12 nm in diameter. Electron-lucent granules (
Fig. 2A) were about 0.27 ± 0.10 μm in diameter and were more commonly observed in larger numbers in cells.
Ultrathin sections of cells of strain NS-1 revealed that they had a relatively typical Gram-negative cell wall, with two membrane layers clearly representing the inner cytoplasmic and outer membranes (
Fig. 2C). An electron-dense layer enveloping the magnetosome crystals suggestive of a magnetosome membrane was observed (
Fig. 2C). Cytoplasmic inclusions representing the intracellular granules detected in whole cells were observed in thin sections of all cells.
Magnetosome crystalline habit and composition were analyzed by TEM, HRTEM, and EDS in STEM mode. TEM and HRTEM images (
Fig. 3A and
E) were consistent with an elongated prismatic crystalline habit of magnetite (Fe
3O
4), as well as the fast Fourier transform (FFT) pattern of the crystalline structure determined using STEM (
Fig. 3F). EDS elemental microanalysis mapping showed the presence of iron (
Fig. 3G) and oxygen (
Fig. 3H) but not sulfur (
Fig. 3I) in magnetosome crystals, also consistent with the mineral magnetite. The bright cell granular inclusions consisted of mainly sulfur, as detected by EDS (
Fig. 3F and
I), and likely represent elemental sulfur globules, which have been found in other both cultured and uncultured MTB (
27).
The size of the magnetosome crystals (
Fig. 3B) ranged from 26.8 to 87.8 nm, with an average of 68.8 ± 16.2 nm, while the shape factor (
Fig. 3C) ranged from 0.56 to 0.91 nm, with an average of 0.86 ± 0.2 nm. A scatter plot of length versus width of the magnetosome crystals from strain NS-1 is shown in
Fig. 3D. The straight line corresponds to the linear regressions obtained from the data (
r = 0.96).
A 16S rRNA gene was amplified, cloned, and sequenced from magnetically enriched NS-MTB. Eighteen gene sequences were recovered. Eight sequences were from
Gammaproteobacteria, while 4 were from the
Deltaproteobacteria class, and 6 were affiliated with phylogenetic groups not known to include MTB. The 16S rRNA gene sequences from the
Gammaproteobacteria were ∼90% similar to the gammaproteobacterial MTB strain SS-5 (accession no.
HQ595729) and ∼87% similar to the uncultivated magnetotactic gammaproteobacterial strain HCH5043 (accession no.
JX134740) (
Fig. 4).
To confirm that the gammaproteobacterial 16S rRNA sequence that we recovered was actually that of strain NS-1, two FISH probes were designed. Vibrioid NS cells (strain NS-1) clearly hybridized to the NS-1 probes (
Fig. 5A to
D), whereas other cells in samples did not (
Fig. 5E to
H), indicating that the gammaproteobacterial 16S rRNA gene sequence we recovered is that of strain NS-1.
The occurrence of a population of a single species of MTB in a coastal salt pond in the Northern Hemisphere with an opposite magnetic polarity than expected (SS in the Northern Hemisphere) was previously reported (
7). This organism was nicknamed the “barbell” because the organism appeared to represent a chain of 2 to 5 (mostly 2, hence the name barbell) coccoid cells in a single structure (
7). A 16S rRNA gene sequence was obtained from the barbell, which suggested it phylogenetically belonged to the
Deltaproteobacteria class and was a close relative to the sulfate-reducing bacterium
Desulforhopalus singaporensis (
7), which has a similar morphology to the barbell when viewed with light microscopy. Here, we describe a population of NS MTB that appeared to consist of a single vibrioid species in sediments collected from a brackish lagoon in the Southern Hemisphere (Brazil). Both the barbell and strain NS-1 were generally present in their highest numbers in the anoxic zone of the sediment, although the barbell was also present in slightly more oxidizing areas than NS-1 (
7).
Interestingly, light microscopy images of cells of the barbell and strain NS-1 are somewhat similar. Cells of strain NS-1 contain many intracellular granules/globules sometimes resembling a chain of coccoid cells (
Fig. 1), similar to the morphology described for the barbell (
7). The cell wall is often not obvious when prokaryotic cells contain a large number of highly refractive inclusions when viewed with differential interference contrast microscopy. There is a very strong correlation between the phylogenetic groups of MTB and the composition and morphology of their magnetosome crystals (
28). All known alpha- and gammaproteobacterial MTB biomineralize cuboctahedral and elongated prismatic crystals of magnetite, while those of the
Deltaproteobacteria synthesize bullet-shaped crystals of magnetite and/or greigite (
28). Unfortunately, no electron micrographs of the barbell or their magnetosomes were provided, which might have shown that the organisms are either the same or different. Regardless, it is clear that strain NS-1 represents a new genus of MTB within the
Gammaproteobacteria.
How can the unusual magnetotactic behavior of “opposite” polarity in MTB be explained? It has always been assumed that in natural environments, SS MTB would swim upward toward high toxic concentrations of O
2 and thus be selected against leading to the majority of MTB being NS in the Northern Hemisphere (
4). The opposite would be true in the Southern Hemisphere. This model is obviously not applicable to MTB, like the barbell and NS-1. Questions raised by the unusual magnetotactic behavior of these MTB are (i) how does magnetotaxis/chemotaxis work in these organisms and (ii) is it an exclusive mechanism restricted to a small select group of MTB?
How magnetotaxis/chemotaxis and the factors involved in controlling magnetic polarity specifically function in the barbell and in strain NS-1 is unclear. Frankel et al. (
4) suggested that [O
2] is the factor that dictates the polarity of MTB, while Zhang et al. (
5) reported that magnetotactic polarity was determined mainly by the oxidation/reduction potential (redox) of the environment. Unlike many magnetite-producing MTB, which are microaerophilic when respiring with O
2 and are mainly present at or very close to the OAI in natural environments (
2), both the barbell and NS-1 are mainly found below the OAI in the anoxic zone, suggesting that they may be anaerobes that are not microaerophilic. This observation might also suggest that these organisms are not aerotactic. These may be key environmental factors in dictating polarity in these MTB, as well as in defining the chemical signals that control the direction of flagellar rotation. On the other hand, greigite-producing MTB are anaerobes (
29) and are found in the anoxic zone (
30) but still show a polarity similar to the majority of MTB. The fact that both the barbell and NS-1 are found at specific depths in chemically stratified habitats suggests that magnetotaxis, as in other MTB, functions as a means of locating and maintaining an optimal position in vertical chemical gradients.
Based on what is currently known, the unexpected magnetotactic behavior described in the barbell and NS-1 might represent an exclusive mechanism restricted to a small select group(s) of MTB. More studies, perhaps with pure cultures, are clearly necessary to identify the chemotactic sensors associated with magnetotaxis that should lead to an understanding how magnetotaxis functions in these unusual MTB.