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Science 12 June 1981:
Vol. 212. no. 4500, pp. 1269 - 1270
DOI: 10.1126/science.212.4500.1269
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Articles

Magnetotactic Bacteria at the Geomagnetic Equator

R. B. FRANKEL 1, R. P. BLAKEMORE 2, F. F. TORRES DE ARAUJO 3, D. M. S. ESQUIVEL 4, and J. DANON 4

1 Francis Bitter National Magnet Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge 02139
2 Department of Microbiology, University of New Hampshire, Durham 03824
3 Department of Physics, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil
4 Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Fisicas, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Magnetotactic bacteria are present in fresh water and marine sediments of Fortaleza, Brazil, situated close to the geomagnetic equator. Both South-seeking and North-seeking bacteria are present in roughly equal numbers in the same samples. This observation is consistent with the hypothesis that the vertical component of the geomagnetic field selects the predominant polarity type among magnetotactic bacteria in natural environments.

Submitted on December 23, 1980
Revised on March 4, 1981


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