Magnetotactic bacteria form magnetosomes, which are intracellular, membrane-enveloped nanocrystals of a magnetic mineral. To serve as sensors for geomagnetic navigation in aquatic habitats, individual crystals are assembled into well-ordered chains to achieve one of the highest structural levels known in a prokaryotic cell. The talk will address the genetic and biochemical mechanisms governing the biosynthesis of magnetic organelles in the model organism Magnetospirillum gryphiswaldense. Finally, recent synthetic-biology approaches to explore the biotechnological potential of these unique nano-magnetic structures will be discussed.
Dirk Schüler studied biology at the University of Greifswald from 1985-1990. After his doctoral thesis in Munich, and postdoctoral stays at Ames/Iowa and San Diego, he became a group leader at Max-Planck-Institut for Marine Microbiology in Bremen in 1999. In 2006 he was appointed as professor at LMU Munich. Since 2014 he has been the chair of the Deptartment of Microbiology at Bayreuth University.
Moderation: Professor Dr. Uwe Bornscheuer