EAPSI: Visualization of bacterial cell membranes using high-resolution microscopy

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Magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) are microscopic organisms with important implications in environmental sciences, magnetism, medicine, and biotechnology among other fields. These bacteria are of interest because of their complex membrane structure and their ability to form tiny magnets inside their cells. To make the magnets, MTB use iron present in their habitat. When the magnets are formed and become enclosed in a membrane, they are called magnetosomes. The latter allow MTB to navigate along Earth's magnetic field. The transport of iron from the environment to the cell is not well understood. This research will study the bacterial cell membrane using high-resolution microscopy. This technology will allow the analysis of the cell membrane to better understand the transport of iron from the environment into the cell, and the formation of the magnetosomes. This research will be conducted in collaboration with Dr. Yoshihiro Fukumori, an expert on MTB and microscopy analysis at Kanazawa University. The knowledge gained through this study will provide insight about the bacterial membranes that will benefit the aforementioned disciplines.The objective of this study is to visualize and analyze cell membrane structural dynamics of MTB. This will be achieved by studying Magnetospirillum magneticum AMB-1, or M. magneticum MS-1, using high-speed atomic force microscopy (HS-AFM). High-speed AFM has provided new opportunities in microbiology for studying single cells and molecules in a near-native state. This research will provide important information about the complexity of Gram-negative cell membrane and insight about processes like binding, diffusion, drug resistance, transport, and osmotic pressure. The images will be stored in university servers and permission for their use can be requested from the investigators. This NSF EAPSI award is funded in collaboration with the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.