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Per Persson. Photo.

Per Persson

Director

Per Persson. Photo.

Effects of phosphorus in growth media on biomineralization and cell surface properties of marine cyanobacteria synechococcus

Author

  • Carlos Paulo
  • Janice P.L. Kenney
  • Per Persson
  • Maria Dittrich

Summary, in English


Through geological time, cyanobacterial picoplankton have impacted the global carbon cycle by sequestrating CO
2
and forming authigenic carbonate minerals. Various studies have emphasized the cyanobacterial cell envelopes as nucleation sites for calcium carbonate formation. Little is known, however, about how environmental conditions (e.g., nutrient content) trigger a cell surface and its properties and, consequently, influence biomineralization. Our study aims to understand how phosphorus (P) concentration impacts the properties of cell surfaces and cell–mineral interactions. Changes to the surface properties of marine Synechococcus strains grown under various P conditions were characterized by potentiometric titrations, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS). Biomineralization experiments were performed using cyanobacterial cells, which were grown under different P concentrations and exposed to solutions slightly oversaturated with respect to calcium carbonate. We observed the changes induced by different P conditions in the macromolecular composition of the cyanobacteria cell envelope and its consequences for biomineralization. The modified properties of cell surfaces were linked to carbonate precipitation rates and mineral morphology from biomineralization experiments. Our analysis shows that the increase of phosphoryl groups and surface charge, as well as the relative proportion of polysaccharides and proteins, can impact carbonate precipitation by picocyanobacteria.

Department/s

  • Centre for Environmental and Climate Science (CEC)
  • MEMEG
  • BECC: Biodiversity and Ecosystem services in a Changing Climate
  • Microbial Ecology

Publishing year

2018-12-01

Language

English

Publication/Series

Geosciences (Switzerland)

Volume

8

Issue

12

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

MDPI AG

Topic

  • Oceanography, Hydrology, Water Resources
  • Ecology

Keywords

  • Calcium carbonate biomineralization
  • Carbonate
  • Cyanobacteria
  • Infrared spectroscopy
  • Phosphorus
  • Synechococcus cells
  • Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy
  • X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

Status

Published

Research group

  • Microbial Ecology

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 2076-3263