Biotechnology Applications
In certain types of applications, bacterial magnetite offers several advantages compared to chemically synthesized magnetite. Bacterial magnetosome particles, unlike those produced chemically, have a consistent shape, a narrow size distribution within the single magnetic domain range, and a membrane coating consisting of lipids and proteins. The magnetosome envelope allows for easy couplings of bioactive substances to its surface, a characteristic important for many applications.
Magnetotactic bacterial cells have been used to determine south magnetic poles in meteorites and rocks containing fine-grained magnetic minerals and for the separation of cells after the introduction of magnetotactic bacterial cells into granulocytes and monocytes by phagocytosis. Magnetotactic bacterial magnetite crystals have been used in studies of magnetic domain analysis and in many commercial applications including: the immobilisation of enzymes; the formation of magnetic antibodies, and the quantification of IgG; the detection and removal of Escherichia coli cells with a fluorescein isothiocyanate conjugated monoclonal antibody, immobilised on magnetotactic bacterial magnetite particles; and the introduction of genes into cells, a technology in which magnetosomes are coated with DNA and "shot" using a particle gun into cells that are difficult to transform using more standard methods.
However, the prerequisite for any large-scale commercial application is mass cultivation of magnetotactic bacteria or the introduction and expression of the genes responsible for magnetosome synthesis into a bacterium, e.g., E. coli, that can be grown relatively cheaply to extremely large yields. Although some progress has been made, the former has not been achieved with the available pure cultures.
Read more about this topic: Magnetotactic Bacteria