The gammaproteobacterium Achromatium forms intracellular amorphous calcium carbonate and not (crystalline) calcite. 2021

Karim Benzerara, and Romain Bolzoni, and Caroline Monteil, and Olivier Beyssac, and Olivier Forni, and Béatrice Alonso, and Maria P Asta, and Christopher Lefevre
Institut de Minéralogie, de Physique des Matériaux et de Cosmochimie (IMPMC), UMR CNRS 7590, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France.

Achromatium is a long known uncultured giant gammaproteobacterium forming intracellular CaCO3 that impacts C and S geochemical cycles functioning in some anoxic sediments and at oxic-anoxic boundaries. While intracellular CaCO3 granules have first been described as Ca oxalate then colloidal CaCO3 more than one century ago, they have often been referred to as crystalline solids and more specifically calcite over the last 25 years. Such a crystallographic distinction is important since the respective chemical reactivities of amorphous calcium carbonate (ACC) and calcite, hence their potential physiological role and conditions of formation, are significantly different. Here, we analyzed the intracellular CaCO3 granules of Achromatium cells from Lake Pavin using a combination of Raman microspectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Granules in intact Achromatium cells were unequivocally composed of ACC. Moreover, ACC spontaneously transformed into calcite when irradiated at high laser irradiance during Raman analyses. Few ACC granules also transformed spontaneously into calcite in lysed cells upon cell death and/or sample preparation. Overall, the present study supports the original claims that intracellular Ca-carbonates in Achromatium are amorphous and not crystalline. In that sense, Achromatium is similar to a diverse group of Cyanobacteria and a recently discovered magnetotactic alphaproteobacterium, which all form intracellular ACC. The implications for the physiology and ecology of Achromatium are discussed. Whether the mechanisms responsible for the preservation of such unstable compounds in these bacteria are similar to those involved in numerous ACC-forming eukaryotes remains to be discovered. Last, we recommend to future studies addressing the crystallinity of CaCO3 granules in Achromatium cells recovered from diverse environments all over the world to take care of the potential pitfalls evidenced by the present study.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008855 Microscopy, Electron, Scanning Microscopy in which the object is examined directly by an electron beam scanning the specimen point-by-point. The image is constructed by detecting the products of specimen interactions that are projected above the plane of the sample, such as backscattered electrons. Although SCANNING TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY also scans the specimen point by point with the electron beam, the image is constructed by detecting the electrons, or their interaction products that are transmitted through the sample plane, so that is a form of TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY. Scanning Electron Microscopy,Electron Scanning Microscopy,Electron Microscopies, Scanning,Electron Microscopy, Scanning,Electron Scanning Microscopies,Microscopies, Electron Scanning,Microscopies, Scanning Electron,Microscopy, Electron Scanning,Microscopy, Scanning Electron,Scanning Electron Microscopies,Scanning Microscopies, Electron,Scanning Microscopy, Electron
D002119 Calcium Carbonate Carbonic acid calcium salt (CaCO3). An odorless, tasteless powder or crystal that occurs in nature. It is used therapeutically as a phosphate buffer in hemodialysis patients and as a calcium supplement. Aragonite,Calcite,Chalk,Limestone,Marble,Milk of Calcium,Vaterite,Calcium Milk,Carbonate, Calcium
D002254 Carbonates Salts or ions of the theoretical carbonic acid, containing the radical CO2(3-). Carbonates are readily decomposed by acids. The carbonates of the alkali metals are water-soluble; all others are insoluble. (From Grant & Hackh's Chemical Dictionary, 5th ed) Carbonate
D006088 Gram-Negative Aerobic Bacteria A large group of aerobic bacteria which show up as pink (negative) when treated by the gram-staining method. This is because the cell walls of gram-negative bacteria are low in peptidoglycan and thus have low affinity for violet stain and high affinity for the pink dye safranine. Achromatiaceae,Achromatium,Achromobacteriaceae,Gram Negative Aerobic Bacteria
D060106 Lakes Inland bodies of still or slowly moving FRESH WATER or salt water, larger than a pond, and supplied by RIVERS and streams. Soda Lakes,Lake,Lakes, Soda

Related Publications

Karim Benzerara, and Romain Bolzoni, and Caroline Monteil, and Olivier Beyssac, and Olivier Forni, and Béatrice Alonso, and Maria P Asta, and Christopher Lefevre
November 2004, Science (New York, N.Y.),
Karim Benzerara, and Romain Bolzoni, and Caroline Monteil, and Olivier Beyssac, and Olivier Forni, and Béatrice Alonso, and Maria P Asta, and Christopher Lefevre
December 2011, Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English),
Karim Benzerara, and Romain Bolzoni, and Caroline Monteil, and Olivier Beyssac, and Olivier Forni, and Béatrice Alonso, and Maria P Asta, and Christopher Lefevre
November 2015, Chemical science,
Karim Benzerara, and Romain Bolzoni, and Caroline Monteil, and Olivier Beyssac, and Olivier Forni, and Béatrice Alonso, and Maria P Asta, and Christopher Lefevre
August 2020, Materials (Basel, Switzerland),
Karim Benzerara, and Romain Bolzoni, and Caroline Monteil, and Olivier Beyssac, and Olivier Forni, and Béatrice Alonso, and Maria P Asta, and Christopher Lefevre
January 2003, Connective tissue research,
Karim Benzerara, and Romain Bolzoni, and Caroline Monteil, and Olivier Beyssac, and Olivier Forni, and Béatrice Alonso, and Maria P Asta, and Christopher Lefevre
January 2011, Nanoscale,
Karim Benzerara, and Romain Bolzoni, and Caroline Monteil, and Olivier Beyssac, and Olivier Forni, and Béatrice Alonso, and Maria P Asta, and Christopher Lefevre
September 2011, The journal of physical chemistry. B,
Karim Benzerara, and Romain Bolzoni, and Caroline Monteil, and Olivier Beyssac, and Olivier Forni, and Béatrice Alonso, and Maria P Asta, and Christopher Lefevre
November 2008, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America,
Karim Benzerara, and Romain Bolzoni, and Caroline Monteil, and Olivier Beyssac, and Olivier Forni, and Béatrice Alonso, and Maria P Asta, and Christopher Lefevre
January 2024, Geobiology,
Karim Benzerara, and Romain Bolzoni, and Caroline Monteil, and Olivier Beyssac, and Olivier Forni, and Béatrice Alonso, and Maria P Asta, and Christopher Lefevre
May 2005, Dalton transactions (Cambridge, England : 2003),
Copied contents to your clipboard!