ISSN:
1574-6976
Source:
Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
Topics:
Biology
Notes:
Transmission electron microscopy examination of bacterial cells, growing naturally in freshwater and marine environments, reveals that they can precipitate a variety of iron minerals. The development of these authigenic mineral phases may be either ‘biologically controlled’, whereby the cell regulates mineral formation, or ‘biologically induced’, with biominerals commonly generated as secondary by-products of microbe-environment interactions. With the vast majority of bacteria biomineralisation is a two-step process; initially metals are electrostatically bound to the anionic surfaces of the cell wall and surrounding organic polymers, where they subsequently serve as nucleation sites for crystal growth. Because of its relatively high activity in aqueous solutions, iron is preferentially bound to reactive organic sites. As the latter stages of mineralisation are inorganically driven, the type of iron mineral formed is inevitably dependent on the available counter-ions, and hence, the chemical composition of the waters in which the microorganisms are growing.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1574-6976.1997.tb00317.x
