Generation of nanomagnetic biocomposites by genetic engineering of bacterial magnetosomes

What is it about?

Magnetosomes are magnetic nanoparticles biomineralized by magnetotactic bacteria. In the alphaproteobacterium Magnetospirillum gryphiswaldense they consist of a monocrystalline magnetite (Fe3O4) core enveloped by the magnetosome membrane, which harbours a set of specialized proteins. Both their crystal morphology and the composition of the enveloping membrane can be manipulated by genetic means, allowing a controlled functionalization of the particle surface by genetic engineering. “Synthetic biology” approaches were used to create a versatile and diverse genetic “toolkit” and enabled the generation of multifunctional magnetic hybrid materials with a tuned property spectrum. Moreover, the combination of different biogenic materials generated fully genetically encoded biocomposites with enhanced potential for various biotechnological and biomedical applications.

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