Abstract

Cyanobacteria have affected major geochemical cycles (carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen) on Earth for billions of years. In particular, they have played a major role in the formation of calcium carbonates (i.e., calcification), which has been considered to be an extracellular process. We identified a cyanobacterium in modern microbialites in Lake Alchichica (Mexico) that forms intracellular amorphous calcium-magnesium-strontium-barium carbonate inclusions about 270 nanometers in average diameter, revealing an unexplored pathway for calcification. Phylogenetic analyses place this cyanobacterium within the deeply divergent order Gloeobacterales. The chemical composition and structure of the intracellular precipitates suggest some level of cellular control on the biomineralization process. This discovery expands the diversity of organisms capable of forming amorphous calcium carbonates.

Links

Publisher Full Text

Authors

Couradeau E, Benzerara K, Gérard E, Moreira D, Bernard S, Brown GE, López-García P

Institution

Institut de Minéralogie et de Physique de la Matière Condensée, CNRS UMR 7590, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France.

Source

Science (New York, N.Y.) 336:6080 2012 Apr 27 pg 459-62

MeSH

Barium
Base Sequence
Biofilms
Calcification, Physiologic
Calcium
Calcium Carbonate
Carbonates
Chemical Precipitation
Cyanobacteria
Genes, Bacterial
Genes, rRNA
Inclusion Bodies
Lakes
Magnesium
Mexico
Molecular Sequence Data
Phylogeny
Strontium

Pub Type(s)

Journal Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

Language

eng

PubMed ID

22539718