Methods to Study Magnetotactic Bacteria and Magnetosomes

Abstract Magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) are microorganisms capable of directed migration along geomagnetic field lines due to the presence of magnetosomes (MS) in the cells. Because of the special structures of MS consisting of lipid membranes and crystalline magnetic minerals, MTB have implications for environmental magnetism, development of magnetic materials, and iron biomineralization. Additionally, MS have potential uses for applications in modern biomedicine. Therefore, they have attracted attention from researchers in different disciplines, and various investigated technologies have been explored. Here, we describe methods to study MTB and MS, including enrichment, isolation, phylogenetic diversity, and magnetisms of MTB, and extraction and formation of MS.