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Napieralski SA, Buss HL, Brantley SL, et al. Microbial chemolithotrophy mediates oxidative weathering of granitic bedrock. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2019;doi: 10.1073/pnas.1909970117.
Napieralski, S. A., Buss, H. L., Brantley, S. L., Lee, S., Xu, H., & Roden, E. E. (2019). Microbial chemolithotrophy mediates oxidative weathering of granitic bedrock. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, . https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1909970117
Napieralski, Stephanie A, et al. "Microbial chemolithotrophy mediates oxidative weathering of granitic bedrock." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America vol. (2019). doi: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1909970117
Napieralski SA, Buss HL, Brantley SL, Lee S, Xu H, Roden EE. Microbial chemolithotrophy mediates oxidative weathering of granitic bedrock. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2019 Dec 16; doi: 10.1073/pnas.1909970117. Epub 2019 Dec 16. PMID: 31843926; PMCID: PMC6936594.
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Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2019 Dec 16; doi: 10.1073/pnas.1909970117. Epub 2019 Dec 16.

Microbial chemolithotrophy mediates oxidative weathering of granitic bedrock.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Stephanie A Napieralski, Heather L Buss, Susan L Brantley, Seungyeol Lee, Huifang Xu, Eric E Roden

Affiliations

  1. Department of Geoscience, NASA Astrobiology Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706; [email protected] [email protected].
  2. School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, BS8 1RJ Bristol, United Kingdom.
  3. Earth and Environmental Systems Institute, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802.
  4. Department of Geosciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802.
  5. Department of Geoscience, NASA Astrobiology Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706.

PMID: 31843926 PMCID: PMC6936594 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1909970117

Abstract

The flux of solutes from the chemical weathering of the continental crust supplies a steady supply of essential nutrients necessary for the maintenance of Earth's biosphere. Promotion of weathering by microorganisms is a well-documented phenomenon and is most often attributed to heterotrophic microbial metabolism for the purposes of nutrient acquisition. Here, we demonstrate the role of chemolithotrophic ferrous iron [Fe(II)]-oxidizing bacteria in biogeochemical weathering of subsurface Fe(II)-silicate minerals at the Luquillo Critical Zone Observatory in Puerto Rico. Under chemolithotrophic growth conditions, mineral-derived Fe(II) in the Rio Blanco Quartz Diorite served as the primary energy source for microbial growth. An enrichment in homologs to gene clusters involved in extracellular electron transfer was associated with dramatically accelerated rates of mineral oxidation and adenosine triphosphate generation relative to sterile diorite suspensions. Transmission electron microscopy and energy-dispersive spectroscopy revealed the accumulation of nanoparticulate Fe-oxyhydroxides on mineral surfaces only under biotic conditions. Microbially oxidized quartz diorite showed greater susceptibility to proton-promoted dissolution, which has important implications for weathering reactions in situ. Collectively, our results suggest that chemolithotrophic Fe(II)-oxidizing bacteria are likely contributors in the transformation of rock to regolith.

Keywords: chemolithotrophy; critical zone; weathering

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interest.

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