| Mycobacterium orygis | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Bacteria |
| Kingdom: | Pseudomonadati |
| Phylum: | Nitrospirota |
| Class: | Nitrospira |
| Order: | Nitrospirales |
| Family: | Nitrospiraceae |
| Genus: | Magnetobacterium |
| Species: | M. bavaricum |
| Binomial name | |
| Magnetobacterium bavaricum | |
Magnetobacterium bavaricum is a species of bacterium.
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]