Some organisms have the unique capacity to geolocate and navigate in response to the Earth’s magnetic field lines. Migratory birds and fishes are the best-documented animals that evolved this capacity to guide their movements. In the microbial world, magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) and multicellular magnetotactic prokaryotes (MMPs) have been the only known magnetoreceptive microorganisms for decades. Some microeukaryotes also orient their motility axis along magnetic field lines thanks to the exploitation of MTB magnetism. The magnetic guidance of these prokaryotes and eukaryotes is due to the biomineralization of magnetic crystals. This article provides a brief overview of the current knowledge concerning the different multicellular prokaryotes and micro/macroeukaryotes capable of magnetoreception. We also discuss the evolution of this unique ability.
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Research Article|
August 01, 2023
Magnetic Guidance in Multicellular Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes
Pedro Leão;
Marine Science Institute, The University of Texas at Austin, Port Aransas, TX, USA
E-mail: [email protected]
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Christopher T. Lefèvre
Aix-Marseille University, CNRS, Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA), UMR 7265 Institute of Biosciences and Biotechnologies of Aix-Marseille, CEA Cadarache, 13115 Saint-Paul-lez-Durance, France
E-mail: [email protected]
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E-mail: [email protected]
E-mail: [email protected]
Publisher: Mineralogical Society of America
First Online:
06 Nov 2023
Online ISSN: 1811-5217
Print ISSN: 1811-5209
Copyright © 2023 by the Mineralogical Society of America
Mineralogical Society of America
Elements (2023) 19 (4): 234–238.
Article history
First Online:
06 Nov 2023
Citation
Pedro Leão, Christopher T. Lefèvre; Magnetic Guidance in Multicellular Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes. Elements 2023;; 19 (4): 234–238. doi: https://doi.org/10.2138/gselements.19.4.234
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