A comparative study of magnetic properties between whole cells and isolated magnetosomes of Magnetospirillum magneticum AMB-1

The magnetic properties of magnetosome magnetite are of interdisciplinary interest because magnetosomes are potential carriers of natural remanent magnetization and paleoenvironment, as well as novel nano-biomaterials in biotechnological and biomedical applications. We carried out magnetic and electron transmission microscopy analyses of fresh Magnetospirillum magneticum AMB-1 whole cells and isolated magnetosomes. Results revealed that AMB-1 synthesized single-domain magnetite magnetosomes, which are arranged in the form of linear fragmental chain. The distinct differences of magnetic properties between these two samples can be faithfully interpreted in terms of spatial arrangement of magnetosomes and magnetostatic interaction. For the whole cells, the strong intra-chain interactions and weak inter-chain interactions generate behaviors of non-interacting uniaxial single-domain particles. Its delta-ratio is 3.0 and passes the Moskowitz test. In contrast, the isolated magnetosome sample has reduced values of coercivity and delta-ratio (1.5), due to increasing three-dimensional magnetostatic interactions and collapse of magnetosome chains. These observations provide useful insights into applications of the biogenic magnetite (magnetosomes) in magnetic nano-materials and magnetofossils in the paleomagnetic and environmental magnetism.