Hard shell, soft blue-green core: Ecology, processes, and modern applications of calcification in terrestrial cyanobacteria

Summary: Cyanobacteria are the oldest photoautotrophic lineage that release oxygen during photosynthesis, an ability that possibly evolved as far as 3.5 billion years ago and changed the Earth’s environment—both in water and on land. Linked to the mechanism of carbon accumulation by cyanobacteria du...

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Main Authors: Patrick Jung, Laura Briegel-Williams, Stefan Dultz, Carina Neff, Gunnar Heibrock, Curtis Monger, Nicole Pietrasiak, Lena Keller, Julia Hale, Jan Friedek, Timo Schmidt, Georg Guggenberger, Michael Lakatos
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2024-12-01
Series:iScience
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004224025057
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author Patrick Jung
Laura Briegel-Williams
Stefan Dultz
Carina Neff
Gunnar Heibrock
Curtis Monger
Nicole Pietrasiak
Lena Keller
Julia Hale
Jan Friedek
Timo Schmidt
Georg Guggenberger
Michael Lakatos
author_facet Patrick Jung
Laura Briegel-Williams
Stefan Dultz
Carina Neff
Gunnar Heibrock
Curtis Monger
Nicole Pietrasiak
Lena Keller
Julia Hale
Jan Friedek
Timo Schmidt
Georg Guggenberger
Michael Lakatos
author_sort Patrick Jung
collection DOAJ
description Summary: Cyanobacteria are the oldest photoautotrophic lineage that release oxygen during photosynthesis, an ability that possibly evolved as far as 3.5 billion years ago and changed the Earth’s environment—both in water and on land. Linked to the mechanism of carbon accumulation by cyanobacteria during photosynthesis are their calcifying properties, a process of biologically mediated mineralization of CO2 by precipitation with calcium to CaCO3. In recent decades, scientific research has mainly focused on calcifying cyanobacteria from aquatic habitats, while their terrestrial relatives have been neglected. This review not only presents the ecology of terrestrial calcifying cyanobacteria in caves and biocrusts but also discusses recent biotechnological applications, such as the production of living building materials through microbial-induced carbonate precipitation for structural engineering, which has the potential to open a new and efficient pathway for mitigating climate change, e.g., as carbon capture and storage technology.
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institution OA Journals
issn 2589-0042
language English
publishDate 2024-12-01
publisher Elsevier
record_format Article
series iScience
spelling doaj-art-15e599a784a04945bef138a4f566bb432025-08-20T01:59:47ZengElsevieriScience2589-00422024-12-01271211128010.1016/j.isci.2024.111280Hard shell, soft blue-green core: Ecology, processes, and modern applications of calcification in terrestrial cyanobacteriaPatrick Jung0Laura Briegel-Williams1Stefan Dultz2Carina Neff3Gunnar Heibrock4Curtis Monger5Nicole Pietrasiak6Lena Keller7Julia Hale8Jan Friedek9Timo Schmidt10Georg Guggenberger11Michael Lakatos12University of Applied Sciences Kaiserslautern, Integrative Biotechnology, Carl-Schurz-Str. 10-16, 66953 Pirmasens, Germany; Corresponding authorUniversity of Applied Sciences Kaiserslautern, Integrative Biotechnology, Carl-Schurz-Str. 10-16, 66953 Pirmasens, GermanyLeibniz Universität Hannover, Institute of Earth System Sciences, Section Soil Science, Herrenhäuser Str. 2, 30419 Hannover, GermanyUniversity of Applied Sciences Kaiserslautern, Building and Design, Schoenstr. 6, 67659 Kaiserslautern, GermanyUniversity of Applied Sciences Kaiserslautern, Building and Design, Schoenstr. 6, 67659 Kaiserslautern, GermanyNew Mexico State University, Plant and Environmental Science, Las Cruces, NM, USAUniversity of Nevada, Life Science Department, Las Vegas, NV, USAUniversity of Applied Sciences Kaiserslautern, Integrative Biotechnology, Carl-Schurz-Str. 10-16, 66953 Pirmasens, Germany; Weincampus Neustadt, University of Applied Sciences Kaiserslautern, Dienstleistungszentrum Ländlicher Raum Rheinpfalz, Breitenweg 71, 67435 Neustadt a.d. Weinstraße, GermanyUniversity of Applied Sciences Kaiserslautern, Integrative Biotechnology, Carl-Schurz-Str. 10-16, 66953 Pirmasens, Germany; Weincampus Neustadt, University of Applied Sciences Kaiserslautern, Dienstleistungszentrum Ländlicher Raum Rheinpfalz, Breitenweg 71, 67435 Neustadt a.d. Weinstraße, GermanyUniversity of Applied Sciences Kaiserslautern, Building and Design, Schoenstr. 6, 67659 Kaiserslautern, GermanyUniversity of Applied Sciences Augsburg, Architecture, An der Hochschule 1, 86161 Augsburg, GermanyLeibniz Universität Hannover, Institute of Earth System Sciences, Section Soil Science, Herrenhäuser Str. 2, 30419 Hannover, GermanyUniversity of Applied Sciences Kaiserslautern, Integrative Biotechnology, Carl-Schurz-Str. 10-16, 66953 Pirmasens, GermanySummary: Cyanobacteria are the oldest photoautotrophic lineage that release oxygen during photosynthesis, an ability that possibly evolved as far as 3.5 billion years ago and changed the Earth’s environment—both in water and on land. Linked to the mechanism of carbon accumulation by cyanobacteria during photosynthesis are their calcifying properties, a process of biologically mediated mineralization of CO2 by precipitation with calcium to CaCO3. In recent decades, scientific research has mainly focused on calcifying cyanobacteria from aquatic habitats, while their terrestrial relatives have been neglected. This review not only presents the ecology of terrestrial calcifying cyanobacteria in caves and biocrusts but also discusses recent biotechnological applications, such as the production of living building materials through microbial-induced carbonate precipitation for structural engineering, which has the potential to open a new and efficient pathway for mitigating climate change, e.g., as carbon capture and storage technology.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004224025057GeochemistryBiogeochemistryEcologyMicrobiology
spellingShingle Patrick Jung
Laura Briegel-Williams
Stefan Dultz
Carina Neff
Gunnar Heibrock
Curtis Monger
Nicole Pietrasiak
Lena Keller
Julia Hale
Jan Friedek
Timo Schmidt
Georg Guggenberger
Michael Lakatos
Hard shell, soft blue-green core: Ecology, processes, and modern applications of calcification in terrestrial cyanobacteria
iScience
Geochemistry
Biogeochemistry
Ecology
Microbiology
title Hard shell, soft blue-green core: Ecology, processes, and modern applications of calcification in terrestrial cyanobacteria
title_full Hard shell, soft blue-green core: Ecology, processes, and modern applications of calcification in terrestrial cyanobacteria
title_fullStr Hard shell, soft blue-green core: Ecology, processes, and modern applications of calcification in terrestrial cyanobacteria
title_full_unstemmed Hard shell, soft blue-green core: Ecology, processes, and modern applications of calcification in terrestrial cyanobacteria
title_short Hard shell, soft blue-green core: Ecology, processes, and modern applications of calcification in terrestrial cyanobacteria
title_sort hard shell soft blue green core ecology processes and modern applications of calcification in terrestrial cyanobacteria
topic Geochemistry
Biogeochemistry
Ecology
Microbiology
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004224025057
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