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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Claus, Mathias M., Wyss, Marcus, Schüler, Dirk, Poggio, Martino, Gross, Boris
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.11801
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author Claus, Mathias M.
Wyss, Marcus
Schüler, Dirk
Poggio, Martino
Gross, Boris
author_facet Claus, Mathias M.
Wyss, Marcus
Schüler, Dirk
Poggio, Martino
Gross, Boris
contents Many bacteria share the fascinating ability to sense Earth's magnetic field -- a process known as magnetotaxis. These bacteria synthesize magnetic nanoparticles, called magnetosomes, within their own cell body and arrange them to form a linear magnetic chain. The chain, which behaves like a compass needle, aligns the microorganisms with the geomagnetic field. Here, we measure the magnetic hysteresis of an individual bacterium of the species Magnetospirillum gryphiswaldense via ultrasensitive torque magnetometry. These measurements, in combination with transmission electron microscopy and micromagnetic simulations, reveal the magnetic configurations of the magnetosomes, their progression as a function of applied field, as well as the total remanent magnetic moment and effective magnetic anisotropy of a chain within a single bacterium. Knowledge of magnetic properties is crucial both for understanding the mechanisms behind magnetotaxis and for the design of systems exploiting magnetotactic bacteria in biomedical applications.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2403_11801
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Magnetic properties of an individual Magnetospirillum gryphiswaldense cell
Claus, Mathias M.
Wyss, Marcus
Schüler, Dirk
Poggio, Martino
Gross, Boris
Biological Physics
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Soft Condensed Matter
Many bacteria share the fascinating ability to sense Earth's magnetic field -- a process known as magnetotaxis. These bacteria synthesize magnetic nanoparticles, called magnetosomes, within their own cell body and arrange them to form a linear magnetic chain. The chain, which behaves like a compass needle, aligns the microorganisms with the geomagnetic field. Here, we measure the magnetic hysteresis of an individual bacterium of the species Magnetospirillum gryphiswaldense via ultrasensitive torque magnetometry. These measurements, in combination with transmission electron microscopy and micromagnetic simulations, reveal the magnetic configurations of the magnetosomes, their progression as a function of applied field, as well as the total remanent magnetic moment and effective magnetic anisotropy of a chain within a single bacterium. Knowledge of magnetic properties is crucial both for understanding the mechanisms behind magnetotaxis and for the design of systems exploiting magnetotactic bacteria in biomedical applications.
title Magnetic properties of an individual Magnetospirillum gryphiswaldense cell
topic Biological Physics
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Soft Condensed Matter
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.11801