Mössbauer study of cobalt and iron in the cyanobacterium (blue green alga)

Abstract

Mossbauer emission and absorption studies have been performed on cobalt and iron in the cyanobacterium (blue-green alga). The Mossbauer spectrum of the cyanobacterium cultivated with57Co is decomposed into two doublets. The parameters of the major doublet are in good agreement with those of cyanocobalamin (vitamin B12) labeled with57Co. The other minor doublet has parameters close to those of Fe(II) coordinated with six nitrogen atoms. These suggest that cobalt is used for the biosynthesis of vitamin B12 or its analogs in the cyanobacterium. The spectra of the cyanobacterium grown with57Fe show that iron is in the high-spin trivalent state and possibly in the form of ferritin, iron storage protein.