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Updated: Oct 3, 2025

Author Spotlight: Unraveling the Role of Earthworms in Enhancing Mineral Weathering for CO2 Removal
Published on: November 10, 2023
Recent progress in understanding the ecology and molecular genetics of soil mineral weathering bacteria
Stephane Uroz1, Laura Picard1, Marie-Pierre Turpault2
1Université de Lorraine, INRAE, UMR1136 'Interactions Arbres-Microorganismes', F-54280 Champenoux, France; INRAE, UR1138 'Biogéochimie des Ecosystèmes Forestiers', F-54280 Champenoux, France.
Abstract:
Mineral weathering bacteria play essential roles in nutrient cycling and plant nutrition. However, we are far from having a comprehensive view of the factors regulating their distribution and the molecular mechanisms involved. In this review, we highlight the extrinsic factors (i.e., nutrient availability, carbon source) and the intrinsic properties of minerals explaining the distribution and functioning of these functional communities. We also present and discuss the progress made in understanding the molecular mechanisms and genes that are used by bacteria during the mineral weathering process, or regulated during their interaction with minerals, that have been recently unraveled by omics approaches.
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