Abstract
Amorphous intracellular minerals present in uncultured magnetotactic bacteria were studied with transmission electron microscopy, electron spectroscopic imaging and X-ray microanalysis. Amorphous minerals were present as intracellular granules that contained phosphorus, calcium and oxygen, and could also incorporate iron, aluminum and zinc. Granules showed evaporation typical of polyphosphate during exposure to high intensity electron beam. Morphologically different bacteria presented granules of variable size and number. This indicates that precipitation of amorphous minerals as phosphate granules is a characteristic feature of many uncultured magnetotactic bacteria. The structure and composition of granules and magnetosomes (known to contain the iron oxide magnetite) differ.
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