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. 2015 Jun 1;46(2):455-64.
doi: 10.1590/S1517-838246220140533. eCollection 2015 Jun.

Biomineralization processes of calcite induced by bacteria isolated from marine sediments

Shiping Wei  1 , Hongpeng Cui  1 , Zhenglong Jiang  1 , Hao Liu  1 , Hao He  1 , Nianqiao Fang  1
Affiliations

Biomineralization processes of calcite induced by bacteria isolated from marine sediments

Shiping Wei et al. Braz J Microbiol. .

Abstract

Biomineralization is a known natural phenomenon associated with a wide range of bacterial species. Bacterial-induced calcium carbonate precipitation by marine isolates was investigated in this study. Three genera of ureolytic bacteria, Sporosarcina sp., Bacillus sp. and Brevundimonas sp. were observed to precipitate calcium carbonate minerals. Of these species, Sporosarcina sp. dominated the cultured isolates. B. lentus CP28 generated higher urease activity and facilitated more efficient precipitation of calcium carbonate at 3.24 ± 0.25 × 10(-4) mg/cell. X-ray diffraction indicated that the dominant calcium carbonate phase was calcite. Scanning electron microscopy showed that morphologies of the minerals were dominated by cubic, rhombic and polygonal plate-like crystals. The dynamic process of microbial calcium carbonate precipitation revealed that B. lentus CP28 precipitated calcite crystals through the enzymatic hydrolysis of urea, and that when ammonium ion concentrations reached 746 mM and the pH reached 9.6, that favored calcite precipitation at a higher level of 96 mg/L. The results of this research provide evidence that a variety of marine bacteria can induce calcium carbonate precipitation, and may influence the marine carbonate cycle in natural environments.

Keywords: calcite; calcium carbonate precipitation; marine bacteria; urease.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Neighbor-joining tree based on partial 16S rRNA gene sequences showing the phylogenetic relationship of the 20 isolates and their closest relatives. The phylogenetic tree was generated using approximately 1,400 bp of 16S rRNA sequence by the neighbor-joining method. Reference strains used in the tree can be retrieved with their accession numbers in GenBank. Scale bar equals approximately 2% nucleotide divergence.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Comparison of the growth rate and capability of inducing calcium carbonate precipitation among the strains of B. diminuta CP16, S. soli CP23 and B. lentus CP28.
Figure 3
Figure 3. XRD spectra of the calcium carbonate crystals induced by bacteria. C, calcite. From top to bottom: B. diminuta CP16, S. soli CP23 and B. lentus CP28.
Figure 4
Figure 4. SEM micrographs revealing the different morphologies of calcite crystals induced by B. lentus CP28. A) morphologies of crystals; B) the cubic crystal; Cand D) the rhombic crystal; E and F) the polygonal plate-like caystal; G) the spherical crystal; H and I) the irregular crystal.
Figure 5
Figure 5. Dynamic analysis of calcium carbonate precipitation induced by B. lentus CP28 associated with changes of pH, ammonium ion, cell growth. Data reflect average of three experiments performed in triplicate.
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