Rhodospirillaceae

The Rhodospirillaceae are a family of Proteobacteria. The majority are purple nonsulfur bacteria, producing energy through photosynthesis; originally all purple nonsulfur bacteria were included here.[3][4]

Magnetospirillum magnetotacticum with magnetosome chains faintly visible

Rhodospirillaceae
Scientific classification
Domain:	Bacteria
Phylum:	Proteobacteria
Class:	Alphaproteobacteria
Order:	Rhodospirillales
Family:	Rhodospirillaceae
Genera
Aestuariispira[1] Azospirillum Caenispirillum Dechlorospirillum Defluviicoccus Inquilinus Magnetospira[2] Magnetospirillum Pararhodospirillum Phaeospirillum Rhodocista Rhodospira Rhodospirillum Rhodovibrio Roseospira Skermanella Telmatospirillum Thalassospira Tistrella

They are often found in anaerobic aquatic environments, such as mud and stagnant water, although they are able to survive in air.[3]

This family also includes Magnetospirillum, which contains tiny chains of magnetite.[3] These let it sense the Earth's magnetic field, which runs downwards as well as north or south, to return to the bottom of a pond (magnetotaxis). Similar magnetite chains found in Martian meteorites have been suggested as evidence of life on Mars.[5]

References

1. UniProt
2. eol
3. George M. Garrity, Don J. Brenner, Noel R. Krieg, James T. Staley (Hrsg.): Bergey's manual of systematic bacteriology. Vol. 2: The Proteobacteria Part C: The Alpha-, Beta-, Delta-, and Epsilonproteabacteria. 2. Auflage. Springer, New York 2005, ISBN 978-0-387-24145-6
4. Martin Dworkin, Stanley Falkow, Eugene Rosenberg, Karl-Heinz Schleifer, Erko Stackebrandt: The Prokaryotes, A Handbook of the Biology of Bacteria. Volume 5: Proteobacteria: Alpha and Beta Subclasses ISBN 978-0-387-25495-1
5. Peter R. Buseck, Rafal E. Dunin-Borkowski, Bertrand Devouard, Richard B. Frankel, Martha R. McCartney, Paul A. Midgley, Mihály Pósfai, and Matthew Weyland: Magnetite morphology and life on Mars In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2001 November 20; 98(24): 13490–13495. Online