Soil Microorganisms and Mineral Weathering: Mechanics of Biotite Dissolution

• Soil microorganisms play an important role in the environment by contributing to leach and release of essential elements from soil minerals that are required not only for their own nutrition but also for plants growth. This study aims to compare between the mechanisms of different fungal and bacterial species isolated from podzol soil in biotite dissolution. Microplate devices with 6 wells were used for the biological weathering experiments. All of the sterilized microplate wells were filled with 4g/l of biotite followed by 12 ml of an iron free diluted mineral liquid medium. In these conditions, biotite particles are the only source of the essential elements for the microorganisms. To characterize the mechanisms of biotite dissolution, we monitored siderophores production, microbial biomass, pH, exchangeable cations concentration and SEM analysis for mineral surface. There was a significant difference between the behavior of the fungal and bacterial species in dissolution of biotite. This difference may be due to the variation of these microorganisms in their mechanics of interaction with mineral surface. It was observed also that these microorganisms directly and indirectly induce biotite dissolution. Defining soil as a system driven by biological mechanisms rather than chemical processes has major implications for our understanding of how the system functions and how it will respond to changing conditions.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap -- Geokemi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences -- Geochemistry (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi -- Mikrobiologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences -- Microbiology (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Biogeochemistry

biogeokemi

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