Bacterial Iron Biomineralisation in Nature

Abstract

It is a two-step process; in first step metals are electrostatically bound to the anionic surfaces of the cell wall and surrounding organic polymers, where they afterward serve as nucleation sites for crystal growth. Because of its moderately high activity in aqueous solutions, iron is preferentially bound to reactive organic sites. As the latter stages of mineralisation are inorganically driven, the sort of iron mineral designed is inevitably hooked in to the available counter-ions, and hence, the chemical composition of the waters in which the microorganisms are growing.