Crystal morphology of MV-1 magnetite

Simon J. Clemett; Kathie L. Thomas-Keprta; Joel Shimmin; Mary Morphew; J. Richard McIntosh; Dennis A. Bazylinski; Joseph L. Kirschvink; Susan J. Wentworth; David S. McKay; Hojatollah Vali; Everett K. Gibson; Christopher S. Romanek

doi:10.2138/am-2002-11-1223

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Letter| November 01, 2002

Crystal morphology of MV-1 magnetite

Simon J. Clemett;

Simon J. Clemett

1

Lockheed Martin Space Operations (NASA/Johnson Space Center Astrobilogy Institute), 2400 NASA Road 1, Mail Code C23, Houston, Texas 77058, U.S.A.

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Kathie L. Thomas-Keprta;

Kathie L. Thomas-Keprta *

1

Lockheed Martin Space Operations (NASA/Johnson Space Center Astrobilogy Institute), 2400 NASA Road 1, Mail Code C23, Houston, Texas 77058, U.S.A.

*

E-mail: [email protected]

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Joel Shimmin;

Joel Shimmin

2

Department of Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, U.S.A.

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Mary Morphew;

Mary Morphew

2

Department of Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, U.S.A.

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J. Richard McIntosh;

J. Richard McIntosh

2

Department of Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, U.S.A.

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Dennis A. Bazylinski;

Dennis A. Bazylinski

3

Iowa State University, Department of Microbiology, 207 Science I, Ames, Iowa 50011, U.S.A.

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Joseph L. Kirschvink;

Joseph L. Kirschvink

4

California Institute of Technology, Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, 1200 East California Boulevard, Pasadena, California 91125, U.S.A.

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Susan J. Wentworth;

Susan J. Wentworth

1

Lockheed Martin Space Operations (NASA/Johnson Space Center Astrobilogy Institute), 2400 NASA Road 1, Mail Code C23, Houston, Texas 77058, U.S.A.

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David S. McKay;

David S. McKay

5

NASA, Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas 77058, U.S.A.

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Hojatollah Vali;

Hojatollah Vali

6

McGill University, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 3450 University Street, Montreal, PQ H3A 2A7, Canada

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Everett K. Gibson, Jr.;

Everett K. Gibson, Jr.

5

NASA, Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas 77058, U.S.A.

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Christopher S. Romanek

7

Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Drawer E, University of Georgia, Aiken, South Carolina 29802, U.S.A.

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Author and Article Information

Simon J. Clemett

1

Lockheed Martin Space Operations (NASA/Johnson Space Center Astrobilogy Institute), 2400 NASA Road 1, Mail Code C23, Houston, Texas 77058, U.S.A.

Kathie L. Thomas-Keprta *

1

Lockheed Martin Space Operations (NASA/Johnson Space Center Astrobilogy Institute), 2400 NASA Road 1, Mail Code C23, Houston, Texas 77058, U.S.A.

Joel Shimmin

2

Department of Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, U.S.A.

Mary Morphew

2

Department of Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, U.S.A.

J. Richard McIntosh

2

Department of Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, U.S.A.

Dennis A. Bazylinski

3

Iowa State University, Department of Microbiology, 207 Science I, Ames, Iowa 50011, U.S.A.

Joseph L. Kirschvink

4

California Institute of Technology, Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, 1200 East California Boulevard, Pasadena, California 91125, U.S.A.

Susan J. Wentworth

1

Lockheed Martin Space Operations (NASA/Johnson Space Center Astrobilogy Institute), 2400 NASA Road 1, Mail Code C23, Houston, Texas 77058, U.S.A.

David S. McKay

5

NASA, Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas 77058, U.S.A.

Hojatollah Vali

6

McGill University, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 3450 University Street, Montreal, PQ H3A 2A7, Canada

Everett K. Gibson, Jr.

5

NASA, Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas 77058, U.S.A.

Christopher S. Romanek

7

Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Drawer E, University of Georgia, Aiken, South Carolina 29802, U.S.A.

*

E-mail: [email protected]

Publisher: Mineralogical Society of America

Received: 05 Mar 2002

Accepted: 31 Aug 2002

First Online: 09 Mar 2017

Online ISSN: 1945-3027

Print ISSN: 0003-004X

American Mineralogist (2002) 87 (11-12): 1727–1730.

https://doi.org/10.2138/am-2002-11-1223

Abstract

Intracellular magnetite (Fe₃O₄) crystals produced by magnetotactic bacteria strain MV-1 are in the single-domain size range, and are chemically pure. We have previously suggested that they exhibit an unusual crystal habit described as truncated hexa-octahedral. Such a crystal morphology has not been demonstrated for any inorganic population of magnetite, nor would it be expected, given considerations of symmetry and free energy. By inference, this morphology is a physical signature of a biological origin. Here we report data from transmission electron microscope (TEM) tomography of such crystals isolated from magnetotactic bacteria, which confirm the unusual geometry, originally proposed from classical TEM tilt imaging.

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