Magnetotactic bacteria orient and migrate along geomagnetic field lines. Magneto-aerotaxis increases the efficiency of respiring cells to efficiently find and maintain position at a preferred microaerobic oxygen concentration. Magneto-aerotaxis could also facilitate access to regions of higher nutrient and electron acceptor concentration via periodic excursions above and below the preferred oxygen concentration level. 2 R.B. Frankel et al. 10 R.B. Frankel et al.N 2 , the bands moved up the capillary, eventually to the meniscus. When the N 2 was replaced with air, the bands moved back to their original position. Pure O 2 caused the bands to move further down the capillary. This shows that magnetotaxis and aerotaxis work together in these magnetotactic bacteria. The behavior observed in strain MC-1 and M. magnetotacticum has been denoted "magneto-aerotaxis" .Two different magneto-aerotactic mechanisms, polar and axial, have been proposed for strain MC-1 and M. magnetotacticum, respectively (Frankel et al. 1997). The magnetotactic bacteria, including magnetotactic cocci in addition to strain MC-1, which swim persistently in one direction along the magnetic field B in the hanging drop assay, are polar magneto-aerotactic (NS or SS). Those, including the magnetotactic spirilla in addition to M. magnetotacticum, which do not show a polar preference in their swimming direction and swim in either direction along B with frequent, spontaneous reversals of swimming direction, are axial magneto-aerotactic. The distinction between NS and SS does not apply to axial magneto-aerotactic bacteria.
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