Genetics of Magnetotactic Bacteria

Cody Nash's current research focuses on the genetics of magnetotactic bacteria. With the help of Dr. Betty Bertani, Cody has compared the genomes of MS-1 and MC-1 made available by the DOE JGI and found 11 conserved clusters, 4 of which show conserved order in both strains (see Figure). Further analysis through gene modeling will help elucidate the function of these clusters. Now with the help of Prof. Dianne Newman and Dr. Komeli Cody is undertaking experiments in transposon mutagenesis to do as comprehensive a screen as possible for genes associated with magnetite formation. Hopefully, the same genes will turn up in both studies!
Figure: Scaffold group 15 of MS-1 showing four conserved clusters (highlighted in green), the rightmost of which is the documented Mam cluster. Vertical axis is -log (identity) in red and -log (conservancy) in blue. Horizontal axis is distance in base pairs.