磁生物学是物理学与生命科学的交叉研究前沿，目前在分子层次开展磁生物学机制研究的工作还很缺乏。趋磁细菌（Magnetotactic bacteria）是能够沿着地球磁场，或者外加磁场方向定向运动或排列的一类革兰氏阴性细菌，其趋磁性是由体内被生物膜包被的纳米尺寸磁性颗粒——磁小体（magnetosome）产生的。磁小体的形成需要多种基因和蛋白参与调控，其中磁小体膜蛋白Mms6 具有调控Fe3O4晶体形成与生长的作用，在Fe3O4晶体的生物矿化过程中扮演关键角色。本项目拟利用强磁场大科学装置提供的一系列的国际先进的设备，特别是高场NMR，EPR,XRD,SEM等，综合应用物理、化学和生物学的多种技术，解析Mms6的精细结构，表征Mms6与磁小体膜的相互作用，阐明Mms6调控Fe3O4晶体形成的生物矿化机制，为理解趋磁细菌的趋磁机制以及开展围绕磁小体的应用技术研发提供理论和实验依据。

Magnetic biology is an interdiciplinary research frontier between physics and biology. The magnetosensitivity of Magnetotactic bacteria to static magnetic fields derives from magnetosomes, the membrane-encapsulated magnetic nanoparticles synthesized by magnetotactic bacteria. The formation of Magnetosome is a complicated process that involves many proteins/enzymes. Mms6 is a magnetosome protein that has been suggested to regulate the formation and growth of Fe3O4 crystal, but the detailed mechanism is largely unknown. Here we propose to study the structure and function of Mms6 protein from three aspects: (1)the interaction of Mms6 N-terminal domain to lipid membrane by using membrane mimic systems such as bicelle, lipsome or nanodisc; (2) the Mms6 C-terminal structure and interaction with iron ions by using NMR、EPR and XAFS; (3) the in vivo verification of Mms6 function in magnetotactic bacteria. Results from this study will shed lights on the regulation mechanism of Mms6 in Fe3O4 crystal formation and provide experimental and theoretical basis for understanding the biomineralization mechanism of Magnetotactic bacteria.