A microbial driver of clay mineral weathering and bioavailable Fe source under low-temperature conditions

• Published in: Frontiers in Microbiology
• Main Authors: Jung, Jaewoo, Chung, Hyun Young, Ko, Youngtak, Moon, Inkyeong, Suh, Yeon Jee, Kim, Kitae
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022
• Subjects: Microbiology; Arctic; permafrost
• Online Access: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9441888/; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36071972; https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2022.980078

Biotic and abiotic Fe(III) reduction of clay minerals (illite IMt-1) under low-temperature (0 and 4°C, pH 6) was studied to evaluate the effects of bioalteration on soil properties including clay structure and elemental composition. The extent of Fe reduction in bioreduced samples (∼3.8 % at 4°C and ∼3.1 % at 0°C) was lower than abiotic reduction (∼7.6 %) using dithionite as a strong reductant. However, variations in the illite crystallinity value of bioreduced samples (°Δ2θ = 0.580–0.625) were greater than those of abiotic reduced samples (°Δ2θ = 0.580–0.601), indicating that modification of crystal structure is unlikely to have occurred in abiotic reduction. Moreover, precipitation of secondary-phase minerals such as vivianite [Fe(2+)(3)(PO(4))(2)(⋅)8H(2)O] and nano-sized biogenic silica were shown as evidence of reductive dissolution of Fe-bearing minerals that is observed only in a bioreduced setting. Our observation of a previously undescribed microbe–mineral interaction at low-temperature suggests a significant implication for the microbially mediated mineral alteration in Arctic permafrost, deep sea sediments, and glaciated systems resulting in the release of bioavailable Fe with an impact on low-temperature biogeochemical cycles.