1. Key Signatures of Magnetofossils Elucidated by Mutant Magnetotactic Bacteria and Micromagnetic Calculations
- Author
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Matthieu Amor, Juan Wan, Ramon Egli, Julie Carlut, Christophe Gatel, Ingrid Marie Andersen, Etienne Snoeck, Arash Komeili, Interférométrie, In situ et Instrumentation pour la Microscopie Electronique (CEMES-I3EM), Centre d'élaboration de matériaux et d'études structurales (CEMES), Institut National des Sciences Appliquées - Toulouse (INSA Toulouse), Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA)-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA)-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Institut de Chimie de Toulouse (ICT-FR 2599), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) (Toulouse INP), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) (Toulouse INP), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National des Sciences Appliquées - Toulouse (INSA Toulouse), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Department of Plant and Microbial Biology [Berkeley], University of California [Berkeley] (UC Berkeley), University of California (UC)-University of California (UC), Institut de Biosciences et Biotechnologies d'Aix-Marseille (ex-IBEB) (BIAM), Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Direction de Recherche Fondamentale (CEA) (DRF (CEA)), Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA), Zentralanstalt für Meteorologie und Geodynamik [Vienna] (ZAMG), Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPG Paris), Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut de Chimie de Toulouse (ICT), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) (Toulouse INP), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) (Toulouse INP), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université de Toulouse (UT), Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, ANR-10-EQPX-0038,MIMETIS,Microscopie Interférométrique et Microscopie Electronique en Transmission In Situ(2010), and European Project: 823717,ESTEEM3
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Geophysics ,[SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics] ,Space and Planetary Science ,Geochemistry and Petrology ,[PHYS.COND.CM-GEN]Physics [physics]/Condensed Matter [cond-mat]/Other [cond-mat.other] ,Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous) ,[CHIM.CRIS]Chemical Sciences/Cristallography ,[PHYS.COND.CM-MS]Physics [physics]/Condensed Matter [cond-mat]/Materials Science [cond-mat.mtrl-sci] ,[PHYS.PHYS.PHYS-INS-DET]Physics [physics]/Physics [physics]/Instrumentation and Detectors [physics.ins-det] ,ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS - Abstract
International audience; Magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) produce single-stranded or multi-stranded chains of magnetic nanoparticles that contribute to the magnetization of sediments and rocks. Their magnetic fingerprint can be detected in ancient geological samples and serve as a unique biosignature of microbial life. However, some fossilized assemblages bear contradictory signatures pointing to magnetic components that have distinct origin(s). Here, using micromagnetic simulations and mutant MTB producing looped magnetosome chains, we demonstrate that the observed magnetofossil fingerprints are produced by a mixture of single-stranded and multi-stranded chains, and that diagenetically induced chain collapse, if occurring, must preserve the strong uniaxial anisotropy of native chains. This anisotropy is the key factor for distinguishing magnetofossils from other populations of natural magnetite particles, including those with similar individual crystal characteristics. Furthermore, the detailed properties of magnetofossil signatures depend on the proportion of equant and elongated magnetosomes, as well as on the relative abundances of single-stranded and multi-stranded chains. This work has important paleoclimatic, paleontological, and phylogenetic implications, as it provides reference data to differentiate distinct MTB lineages according to their chain and magnetosome morphologies, which will enable the tracking of the evolution of some of the most ancient biomineralizing organisms in a time-resolved manner. It also enables a more accurate discrimination of different sources of magnetite particles, which is pivotal for gaining better environmental and relative paleointensity reconstructions from sedimentary records.
- Published
- 2022