Magnetobacterium bavaricum

Magnetobacterium bavaricum is a large rod shaped gram negative microorganism that ranges from 8um-10um in length and 1.5um-2um in width.[1][2][3][4] These microorganisms are motile by a single polar flagella and orient themselves by use of magnetotaxis.[3] M. bavaricum were found to contain upwards of 1,000 magnetosomes per cell[4][2] which is far more than required for cell orientation along the earth's magnetic field and the execution of magnetotactic behaviors.[2] These hook-shaped magnetite crystals arrange themselves in three to six bundles of multiple chains along the organism and create magnetic moments for the cell[3][4] that allow polar magnetotaxis while the cell propels itself forward via the singular flagella.[3] These organisms are observed containing a range from zero-twenty intracellular globules containing elemental sulfur believed to aid in a sulfur oxidizing metabolism for energy production by providing an energy reservoir.[2][1][4][5]

This species has been found within sediments of freshwater lakes in Upper Bavaria, Germany and is difficult to culture due to being a gradient organism occupying microaerobic zoned environments also known as the OAI zone.[2][3] Although this species has been identified within a small layer of sediment, it appears to account for approximately 30% of the biovolume in Lake Chiemsee surface sediments indicating it may be a dominant fraction of the microbial community found within this layer of sediment.[2][3]