Spatiotemporal distribution of the magnetotactic multicellular prokaryote Candidatus Magnetoglobus multicellularis in a Brazilian hypersaline lagoon and in microcosms Authors Juliana L. Martins Thais S. Silveira Fernanda Abreu Fernando P. de Almeida Alexandre S. Rosado Ulysses Lins Abstract Candidatus Magnetoglobus multicellularis is an unusual morphotype of magnetotactic prokaryotes. These microorganisms are composed of a spherical assemblage of gram-negative prokaryotic cells capable of swimming as a unitaligned along a magnetic field. While they occur in many aquatic habitats around the world, high numbers of Ca. M. multicellularishave been detected in Araruama Lagoon, a large hypersaline lagoon near the city of Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil. Here,we report on the spatiotemporal distribution of one such population in sediments of Araruama Lagoon, including its annualdistribution and its abundance compared with the total bacterial community. In microcosm experiments, Ca. M. multicellulariswas unable to survive for more than 45 days: the population density gradually decreased coinciding with a shift to theupper layers of the sediment. Nonetheless, Ca. M. multicellularis was detected throughout the year in all sites studied. Changes in the population density seemed to be related to the input of organic matter as well as to salinity. The populationdensity of Ca. M. multicellularis did not correlate with the total bacterial counts; instead, changes in the microbial communitystructure altered their counts in the environment. [Int Microbiol 2012; 15(3):141-149] Author Biography Juliana L. Martins Downloads PDF Issue Vol. 15 No. 3 (2012) Section Research Articles License Submission of a manuscript to International Microbiology implies: that the work described has not been published before, including publication in the World Wide Web (except in the form of an Abstract or as part of a published lecture, review, or thesis); that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere; that all the coauthors have agreed to its publication. The corresponding author signs for and accepts responsability for releasing this material and will act on behalf of any and all coauthors regarding the editorial review and publication process.If an article is accepted for publication in International Microbiology, the authors (or other copyright holder) must transfer to the journal the right–not exclusive–to reproduce and distribute the article including reprints, translations, photographic reproductions, microform, electronic form (offline, online) or any other reproductions of similar nature. Nevertheless, all article in International Microbiology will be available on the Internet to any reader at no cost. The journal allows users to freely download, copy, print, distribute, search, and link to the full text of any article, provided the authorship and source of the published article is cited. The copyright owner's consent does not include copying for new works, or resale. In these cases, the specific written permission of International Microbiology must first be obtained.Authors are requested to create a link to the published article on the journal's website. The link must be accompanied by the following text: "The original publication is available on LINK at <http://www.im.microbios.org>. Please use the appropiate URL for the article in LINK. Articles disseminated via LINK are indexed, abstracted, and referenced by many abstracting and information services, bibliographic networks, subscription agencies, library networks, and consortia.
