Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Laboratory

13 Jul, 10 AM - 15 Jul, 10 AM

Magnetotactic organisms take advantage of the Earth's magnetic field for navigaion through chemical gradients. They do so by mineralizing chains of nano-crystals of magnetite (Fe3O4) or greigite (Fe3S4) within their cells. These chains have a strong enough interaction with the Earth's field to torque the cells into alignment with the field, giving them an indication of up and down. These chains also make excellent fossils, such that we have identified terrestrial magnetofossils to over 500 million years ago. The great age of these fossils, and the wide taxonomic distribution of magnetotaxis in two of the three domains of life (the Eubacteria and the Eukarya) suggests that magnetotaxis may have been a trait of the last common ancestor of all life on Earth. This project will focus on searching for magnetotactic organisms from the third domain of life, the Archaebacteria. We will collect fresh samples and analyze them using magnetic and microbiological techniques.

Visit #5608 @Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Laboratory

Approved

Under Project # 4398 | Research

Identification of Magnetic Bacteria in Mono Lake

graduate_student - California Institute of Technology

Reservation Members(s)

Cody Nash Jul 13 - 15, 2004 (3 days)

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Dorm 1 Jul 13 - 15, 2004