A silicon cell cycle in a bacterial model of calcium phosphate mineralogenesis

► A bacterium that calcifies with phosphate serves as a biomineralisation model. ► Advanced methods of substructural analysis show the intracellular loading and unloading of bone-like mineral particles ranging from 5 nm to 1 μm. ► Silicon in a cell cycle facilitates cyclic calcification. ► Silicification prior to calcification has clinical and evolutionary implications.