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Minerals
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Understanding Bacterial Mineralization
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Understanding Bacterial Mineralization

A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Mineralogy and Biogeochemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 November 2020) | Viewed by 6818

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Fadwa Jroundi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain
Interests: nuclear waste; uranium; deep geological disposal; heavy metals; bioremediation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Bacterial mineralization or biomineralization is such a wide phenomenon in nature. In this process, bacteria are able to induce the precipitation of minerals, either through highly controlled biomineralization (so-called “biologically controlled biomineralization”) exerting a high control over the whole process or by inducing the precipitation of minerals (so-called “biologically-induced biomineralization”) through processes that involve little control. Bacterial mineralization is attracting an increasing amount of interest when it comes to understanding the mechanisms involved in such a process. However, the complete process and mechanisms involved are still missing, despite many years of research in this field, and their elucidation could yield valuable information. Biomineralization can provide unique evidence regarding bacterial interactions with the environment, the origin and evolution of life in Earth and elsewhere in the solar system, environmental conditions of sediments in all ages, and the bacterial role in different human pathologies. Bacterial mineralization also has great potential for use in a wide range of applications, including nanotechnology, implants, and monument construction material consolidation and conservation, among others.

This Special Issue on “Understanding Bacterial Mineralization” will focus on recent advances in bacterial mineralization, from the fundamental to the applied science, including different areas, e.g., environmental science, molecular microbiology, and geochemistry. Papers providing experimental data and omics-based studies down to the molecular scale to provide a comprehensive picture of bacterial mineralization process are also welcome.

Dr. Fadwa Jroundi
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Minerals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • induced biomineralization
  • controlled biomineralization
  • bacterial diversity and activity
  • application of bio-inspired mineralization
  • in situ analysis of biomineralization

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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17 pages, 6600 KiB  
Article
Self-Healing Biogeopolymers Using Biochar-Immobilized Spores of Pure- and Co-Cultures of Bacteria
by Jadin Zam S. Doctolero, Arnel B. Beltran, Marigold O. Uba, April Anne S. Tigue and Michael Angelo B. Promentilla
Minerals 2020, 10(12), 1114; https://doi.org/10.3390/min10121114 - 11 Dec 2020
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 3773
Abstract
A sustainable solution for crack maintenance in geopolymers is necessary if they are to be the future of modern green construction. This study aims to develop self-healing biogeopolymers that could potentially rival bioconcrete. First, a suitable healing agent was selected from Bacillus subtilis [...] Read more.
A sustainable solution for crack maintenance in geopolymers is necessary if they are to be the future of modern green construction. This study aims to develop self-healing biogeopolymers that could potentially rival bioconcrete. First, a suitable healing agent was selected from Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus sphaericus, and Bacillus megaterium by directly adding their spores in the geopolymers and subsequently exposing them to a precipitation medium for 14 days. Scanning electron microscope with energy-dispersive X-ray (SEM-EDX) analysis revealed the formation of mineral phases for B. subtilis and B. sphaericus. Next, the effect of biochar-immobilization and co-culturing (B. sphaericus and B. thuringiensis) on the healing efficiencies of the geopolymers were tested and optimized by measuring their ultrasonic pulse velocities weekly over a 28-day healing period. The results show that using co-cultured bacteria significantly improved the observed efficiencies, while biochar-immobilization had a weak effect, but yielded an optimum response between 0.3–0.4 g/mL. The maximum crack width sealed was 0.65 mm. Through SEM-EDX and FTIR analyses, the precipitates in the cracks were identified to be mainly CaCO3. With that, there is potential in developing self-healing biogeopolymers using biochar-immobilized spores of bacterial cultures. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Understanding Bacterial Mineralization)
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18 pages, 3099 KiB  
Article
Use of Radial Basis Function Network to Predict Optimum Calcium and Magnesium Levels in Seawater and Application of Pretreated Seawater by Biomineralization as Crucial Tools to Improve Copper Tailings Flocculation
by Grecia Villca, Dayana Arias, Ricardo Jeldres, Antonio Pánico, Mariella Rivas and Luis A. Cisternas
Minerals 2020, 10(8), 676; https://doi.org/10.3390/min10080676 - 30 Jul 2020
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2580
Abstract
The combined use of the Radial Basis Function Network (RBFN) model with pretreated seawater by biomineralization (BSw) was investigated as an approach to improve copper tailings flocculation for mining purposes. The RBFN was used to set the optimal ranges of Ca2+ and [...] Read more.
The combined use of the Radial Basis Function Network (RBFN) model with pretreated seawater by biomineralization (BSw) was investigated as an approach to improve copper tailings flocculation for mining purposes. The RBFN was used to set the optimal ranges of Ca2+ and Mg2+ concentration at different Ph in artificial seawater to optimize the performance of the mine tailings sedimentation process. The RBFN was developed by considering Ca2+ and Mg2+ concentration as well as pH as input variables, and mine tailings settling rate (Sr) and residual water turbidity (T) as output variables. The optimal ranges of Ca2+ and Mg2+ concentration were found, respectively: (i) 169–338 and 0–130 mg·L−1 at pH 9.3; (ii) 0–21 and 400–741 mg·L–1 at pH 10.5; (iii) 377–418 and 703–849 mg·L−1 at pH 11.5. The settling performance predicted by the RBFN was compared with that measured in raw seawater (Sw), chemically pretreated seawater (CHSw), BSw, and tap water (Tw). The results highlighted that the RBFN model is greatly useful to predict the settling performance in CHSw. On the other hand, the highest Sr values (i.e., 5.4, 5.7, and 5.4 m·h–1) were reached independently of pH when BSw was used as a separation medium for the sedimentation process. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Understanding Bacterial Mineralization)
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