Candidatus Magnetominusculus xianensis strain:HCH-1 Genome sequencing and assembly. Candidatus Magnetominusculus xianensis strain:HCH-1

Magnetotactic bacteria (MTB), a diverse group of bacteria that align and swim along the geomagnetic field lines, are considered as a classic example for microbial biomineralization. These bacteria actively accumulate large amount of ferrous ion, ferric ion or both and synthesize intracellular, membrane-bounded crystals of magnetite and/or greigite called magnetosomes, which are normally individually less than 150 nm in size and arranged into chain-like structures in order to optimize the cellular magnetic dipole moment. The ubiquity and abundance of MTB in nature suggest their larger role in the biogeochemical cycling of iron than previously believed. In contrary to their widespread distribution, only a few of MTB strains have been isolated and cultivated, which poorly represents the true diversity of MTB in nature. Here the draft genome of an uncultivated MTB Candidatus Magnetominusculus xianensis belonging to the Nitrospirae phylum was sequenced, which will provide an in-depth understanding of the origin, biomineralization and metabolism of MTB in nature.