Magnetotactic bacteria: Characteristics and environmental applications

Highlights

• Magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) synthesize magnetic nanoparticle within magnetosomes.

• The morphologic and phylogenetic diversity of MTB were summarized.

• Isolation and mass cultivation of MTB deserve extensive research for applications.

• MTB can remove heavy metals, radionuclides, and organic pollutants from wastewater.

Abstract

Magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) are a group of Gram-negative prokaryotes that respond to the geomagnetic field. This unique property is attributed to the intracellular magnetosomes, which contains membrane-bound nanocrystals of magnetic iron minerals. This review summarizes the most recent advances in MTB, magnetosomes, and their potential applications especially the environmental pollutant control or remediation. The morphologic and phylogenetic diversity of MTB were first introduced, followed by a critical review of isolation and cultivation methods. Past research has devoted to optimize the factors, such as oxygen, carbon source, nitrogen source, nutrient broth, iron source, and mineral elements for the growth of MTB. Besides the applications of MTB in modern biological and medical fields, little attention was made on the environmental applications of MTB for wastewater treatment, which has been summarized in this review. For example, applications of MTB as adsorbents have resulted in a novel magnetic separation technology for removal of heavy metals or organic pollutants in wastewater. In addition, we summarized the current advance on pathogen removal and detection of endocrine disruptor which can inspire new insights toward sustainable engineering and practices. Finally, the new perspectives and possible directions for future studies are recommended, such as isolation of MTB, genetic modification of MTB for mass production and new environmental applications. The ultimate objective of this review is to promote the applications of MTB and magnetosomes in the environmental fields.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Magnetotactic bacteria / Magnetosome / Heavy metal / Radionuclide / Organic pollutants

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 21677015), the Innovative Research Group of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51721093), and the US national science foundation (No. 1756444) via Biological & Environmental Interfaces of Nano Materials.

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