Microbe-mineral interactions: The impact of surface attachment on mineral weathering and element selectivity by microorganisms

- Microbial surface attachment enhances mineral weathering processes.
- Soil microorganisms have a powerful ability to select elements from minerals.
- Attached and planktonic microbiota induces dissolution using different processes.
- Mineral composition and nutritional need affect the weathering ability of microbes.

One of the major gaps within the field of biogeochemistry is the lack of a detailed and deep understanding of the mechanism behind the microbial inducement of mineral dissolution. The association of microorganisms with the mineral surfaces is an important issue for understanding processes like mineral weathering, biomineralization, bioremediation and biofouling. The present study aims to investigate the performance of attached and unattached soil fungal and bacterial species in biotite weathering and in the selectivity of elements from biotite. Sterilized microplate devices were filled with biotite (> 2 mm) followed by an iron limited liquid growth medium and were inoculated separately with six different microbial species isolated from podzol soil: Erwinia amylovora, Pseudomonas stutzeri, Pseudomonas mendocina, Streptomyces pilosus, Neurospora crassa and Penicillium melinii. The experiment was designed in two set-ups: 1) attached form, in which the microorganisms were inoculated directly to the biotite surface, and 2) unattached form, in which 0.4 μm PET track etched devices were used to separate the microbial cells from the biotite surface.Our findings indicate that the surface attached microorganisms led to a greater dissolution of elements from biotite than the unattached microorganisms that was evidenced by 1) higher dissolution of Fe, Al and Si, 2) greater decrease in pH of the liquid growth medium, and 3) relatively higher production of siderophores. Furthermore, there was no significant difference in the capability of element selectivity between the attached and unattached microbial forms. The biotite dissolution was promoted initially by complexation processes and later by acidification processes for most of the attached and unattached microorganisms. Thus, we conclude that despite the mineral dissolution induced by microbial attachment on the mineral surface, the element composition of the biotite and nutritional need of the microorganisms were the main factors affecting the element selectivity.