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Microorganisms Accelerate REE Mineralization in Supergene Environments.

Xurui Li^1,2,3, Xiaoliang Liang^1,2,3, Hongping He^1,2,3

¹CAS Key Laboratory of Mineralogy and Metallogeny/Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Mineral Physics and Materials, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistrygrid.454798.3, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology

|June 16, 2022

Summary

Microorganisms, including bacteria and fungi, significantly contribute to rare earth element (REE) enrichment and fractionation in exogenic deposits. Specific bacteria, like Bacillus and Micrococcus, preferentially adsorb heavy REEs (HREEs) via cell wall components, aiding resource utilization.

Keywords:

Bacillus Gram-positive bacteria REE fractionation REE mineralization biosorption electron microscopy gene sequencing microbial community

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Area of Science:

Geochemistry
Microbiology
Mineralogy

Background:

Exogenic deposits are crucial sources of rare earth elements (REEs), particularly heavy REEs (HREEs).
Microbial roles in supergene environments are known, but their specific contributions to REE deposit formation, especially regolith-hosted HREE deposits, remain unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

To characterize microbial communities in a regolith-hosted REE deposit.
To investigate the contribution of microorganisms to REE enrichment and HREE/LREE fractionation.

Main Methods:

High-throughput sequencing of microbial communities.
Batch adsorption experiments with isolated bacterial strains.
Spectroscopic characterization of REE adsorption sites.

Main Results:

REE concentrations correlated with microbial community composition along the weathering profile.
Both fungi and bacteria contributed to REE accumulation; bacteria were key in HREE/LREE fractionation.
Gram-positive bacteria (Bacillus, Micrococcus) preferentially adsorbed HREEs via teichoic acids in their cell walls.

Conclusions:

Microorganisms play a critical role in supergene REE mineralization and fractionation.
Teichoic acids in Gram-positive bacteria are primary sites for HREE adsorption, driving deposit enrichment.
Findings offer insights into efficient biological pathways for REE resource utilization.