Mineral formation induced by cable bacteria performing long-distance electron transport in marine sediments

Geerlings, Nicole M. J.; Zetsche, Eva-Maria; Hidalgo-Martinez, Silvia; Middelburg, Jack J.; Meysman, Filip J. R.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-811-2019

Articles | Volume 16, issue 3

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-811-2019

© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-811-2019

© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 16, issue 3

Research article

| Highlight paper

|

13 Feb 2019

Research article | Highlight paper |

| 13 Feb 2019

Mineral formation induced by cable bacteria performing long-distance electron transport in marine sediments

Nicole M. J. Geerlings, Eva-Maria Zetsche, Silvia Hidalgo-Martinez, Jack J. Middelburg, and Filip J. R. Meysman

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-811-2019-supplement

Video supplement

FIB-SEM video of a weakly encrusted cable bacterium N. M. J. Geerlings, E.-M. Zetsche, S. Hidalgo-Martinez, J. J. Middelburg, and F. J. R. Meysman https://doi.org/10.5446/38390

FIB-SEM video of two strongly encrusted cable bacteria N. M. J. Geerlings, E.-M. Zetsche, S. Hidalgo-Martinez, J. J. Middelburg, and F. J. R. Meysman https://doi.org/10.5446/38389

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Short summary

Multicellular cable bacteria form long filaments that can reach lengths of several centimeters. They affect the chemistry and mineralogy of their surroundings and vice versa. How the surroundings affect the cable bacteria is investigated. They show three different types of biomineral formation: (1) a polymer containing phosphorus in their cells, (2) a sheath of clay surrounding the surface of the filament and (3) the encrustation of a filament via a solid phase containing iron and phosphorus.