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Magnesium-Calcite Crystal Formation Mediated by the Thermophilic Bacterium Geobacillus thermoglucosidasius Requires Calcium and Endospores

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Abstract

Fresh Geobacillus thermoglucosidasius cells grown on soybean-casein digest nutrient agar were inoculated as a parent colony 1 cm in diameter on the surface of an agar gel containing acetate and calcium ions (calcite-promoting hydrogel) and incubated at 60 °C for 4 days, after which magnesium-calcite single crystals of 50–130 µm in size formed within the parent colony. Addition of EDTA, polyacrylic acid or N,N-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide to the calcite-forming hydrogel inhibited the parent colony from forming magnesium-calcite crystals. Inoculation of G. thermoglucosidasius on calcite-forming hydrogel containing 5 µM cadmium and 20 µM zinc resulted in a decrease in the sporulation rate from 55 to 7–8 %. Magnesium-calcite synthesis decreased relative to the sporulation rate. G. thermoglucosidasius exhibited higher adsorption/absorbance of calcium than other Geobacillus sp. that do not mediate calcite formation and higher levels of magnesium accumulation. Calcium ions contained in the calcite-promoting hydrogel and magnesium ions concentrated in G. thermoglucosidasius cells serve as the elements for magnesium-calcite synthesis. The observed decreases in sporulation rate and magnesium-calcite formation support the hypothesis that endospores act as nuclei for the synthesis of magnesium-calcite single crystals.

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  1. Department of Biochemistry and Applied Biosciences, University of Miyazaki, 1-1 Gakuen Kibanadai-Nishi, Miyazaki, 889-2192, Japan

    Rie Murai & Naoto Yoshida

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  1. Rie Murai
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  2. Naoto Yoshida
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Correspondence to Naoto Yoshida.

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Murai, R., Yoshida, N. Magnesium-Calcite Crystal Formation Mediated by the Thermophilic Bacterium Geobacillus thermoglucosidasius Requires Calcium and Endospores. Curr Microbiol 73, 696–703 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-016-1115-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-016-1115-8

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