Summary
Multicellular magnetotactic prokaryotes (
MMPs
) are a peculiar group of magnetotactic bacteria, each comprising approximately 10–100 cells of the same phylotype. Two morphotypes of
MMP
have been identified, including several species of globally distributed spherical mulberry‐like
MMPs
(s‐
MMPs
), and two species of ellipsoidal pineapple‐like
MMPs
(e‐
MMPs
) from
C
hina (
Q
ingdao and
R
ongcheng cities). We recently collected e‐
MMPs
from
M
editerranean
S
ea sediments (
S
ix‐
F
ours‐les‐
P
lages) and
D
rummond
I
sland, in the
S
outh
C
hina
S
ea. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the
MMPs
from
S
ix‐
F
ours‐les‐
P
lages and the previously reported e‐
MMP
C
andidatus
M
agnetananas rongchenensis have 98.5% sequence identity and are the same species, while the
MMPs
from
D
rummond
I
sland appear to be a novel species, having > 7.1% sequence divergence from the most closely related e‐
MMP
,
C
andidatus
M
agnetananas tsingtaoensis. Identification of the novel species expands the distribution of e‐
MMPs
to
T
ropical
Z
one. Comparison of nine physical and chemical parameters revealed that sand grain size and the content of inorganic nitrogen (nitrate, ammonium and nitrite) in the sediments from
R
ongcheng
C
ity and
S
ix‐
F
ours‐les‐
P
lages were similar, and lower than found for sediments from the other two sampling sites. The results of the study reveal broad diversity and wide distribution of e‐
MMPs
.