Large Sulfur Bacteria and the Formation of Phosphorite
Abstract
Phosphorite deposits in marine sediments are a long-term sink for an essential nutrient, phosphorus. Here we show that apatite abundance in sediments on the Namibian shelf correlates with the abundance and activity of the giant sulfur bacterium Thiomargarita namibiensis , which suggests that sulfur bacteria drive phosphogenesis. Sediments populated by Thiomargarita showed sharp peaks of pore water phosphate (≤300 micromolar) and massive phosphorite accumulations (≥50 grams of phosphorus per kilogram). Laboratory experiments revealed that under anoxic conditions, Thiomargarita released enough phosphate to account for the precipitation of hydroxyapatite observed in the environment.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Polyphosphate hydrolysis caused the increase in marine sediment pore water inorganic phosphate concentration, leading to biologically induced hydroxyapatite precipitation.
“It was concluded that polyP hydrolysis caused the increase in marine sediment pore water Pi concentration, leading to biologically induced hydroxyapatite precipitation [79].”
From A Review of Phosphate Mineral Nucleation in Biology and Geobiology (2013) · cites this paper as [79]
Modern phosphorite formation has been associated with two species of sulfide-oxidizing bacteria that inhabit microbial mats within marine sediment: Beggiatoa and Thiomargarita namibiensis.
“Modern phosphorite formation has also been associated with two species of sulfide-oxidizing bacteria that inhabit microbial mats within the marine sediment: Beggiatoa [85, 86] and Thiomargarita namibiensis [79, 87].”
From A Review of Phosphate Mineral Nucleation in Biology and Geobiology (2013) · cites this paper as [79]
Incubation of these bacteria in the laboratory demonstrated inorganic phosphate release under anoxic conditions.
“Incubation of these bacteria in the laboratory demonstrated Pi release under anoxic conditions [79].”
From A Review of Phosphate Mineral Nucleation in Biology and Geobiology (2013) · cites this paper as [79]
In situ inorganic phosphate concentrations of up to 300 μM were measured within ocean sediment composed of about 25% hydroxyapatite and populated by Thiomargarita.
“In situ Pi concentrations of up to 300 μM were measured within ocean sediment composed of ~25 % hydroxyapatite and populated by Thiomargarita [79].”
From A Review of Phosphate Mineral Nucleation in Biology and Geobiology (2013) · cites this paper as [79]
Organisms can concentrate and store inorganic phosphate from their environment and then release it to survive periodic anaerobic environments or after death.
“It was later proven that organisms can concentrate and store Pi from their environment [78] and then release Pi to survive periodic anaerobic environments [79] or after death [75, 80].”
From A Review of Phosphate Mineral Nucleation in Biology and Geobiology (2013) · cites this paper as [79]
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Sedimentary Corg:P ratios, paleocean ventilation, and Phanerozoic atmospheric pO2
Algeo, T. J., & Ingall, E. (2007) · Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology · doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2007.02.029 · Cited by 769 · see citing works
Hazen, R. M., Papineau, D., Bleeker, W., Downs, R. T., Ferry, J. M., McCoy, T. J., Sverjensky, D. A., & Yang, H. (2008) · American Mineralogist · doi:10.2138/am.2008.2955 · Cited by 701 · see citing works
A critical review of mineral-microbe interaction and co-evolution: Mechanisms and applications
Dong, H., Huang, L., Zhao, L., Zeng, Q., Liu, X., Sheng, Y., Shi, L., Wu, G., Jiang, H., Li, F., et al. (2022) · National Science Review · doi:10.1093/nsr/nwac128 · Cited by 472 · see citing works
Marine Polyphosphate: A Key Player in Geologic Phosphorus Sequestration
Diaz, J., Ingall, E., Benitez-Nelson, C., Paterson, D., de Jonge, M. D., McNulty, I., & Brandes, J. A. (2008) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1151751 · Cited by 333 · see citing works
Microbial sequestration of phosphorus in anoxic upwelling sediments
Goldhammer, T., Brüchert, V., Ferdelman, T. G., & Zabel, M. (2010) · Nature Geoscience · doi:10.1038/ngeo913 · Cited by 276 · see citing works
Control of Vertebrate Skeletal Mineralization by Polyphosphates
Omelon, S., Georgiou, J., Henneman, Z. J., Wise, L. M., Sukhu, B., Hunt, T., Wynnyckyj, C., Holmyard, D., Bielecki, R., & Grynpas, M. D. (2009) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0005634 · Cited by 216 · see citing works
Sulfide induces phosphate release from polyphosphate in cultures of a marine <i>Beggiatoa</i> strain
Brock, J., & Schulz-Vogt, H. N. (2011) · The ISME Journal · doi:10.1038/ismej.2010.135 · Cited by 150 · see citing works
The role of microbes in the formation of modern and ancient phosphatic mineral deposits
Crosby, C. H., & Bailey, J. V. (2012) · Frontiers in Microbiology · doi:10.3389/fmicb.2012.00241 · Cited by 107 · see citing works
A slump in the trench: tracking the impact of the 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake.
Strasser, M., Kölling, M., Ferreira, C. D. S., Fink, H. G., Fujiwara, T., Henkel, S., Ikehara, K., Kanamatsu, T., Kawamura, K., Kodaira, S., et al. (2013) · Geology · doi:10.1130/g34477.1 · Cited by 90 · see citing works
A Review of Phosphate Mineral Nucleation in Biology and Geobiology
Omelon, S., Ariganello, M., Bonucci, E., Grynpas, M., & Nanci, A. (2013) · Calcified Tissue International · doi:10.1007/s00223-013-9784-9 · Cited by 84 · see citing works
Lenton, T. M., & Daines, S. J. (2018) · Emerging Topics in Life Sciences · doi:10.1042/etls20170156 · Cited by 55 · see citing works
LINDTKE, J., ZIEGENBALG, S. B., BRUNNER, B., ROUCHY, J. M., PIERRE, C., & PECKMANN, J. (2011) · Geological Magazine · doi:10.1017/s0016756811000124 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
- Authors
- Schulz, H. N., & Schulz, H. D.
- Affiliations
- Leibniz University Hannover (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Schulz, Heide N.
- Venue
- Science
- Published
- 2005-01-21
- Volume
- 307
- Issue
- 5708
- Pages
- 416-418
- ISSN
- 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
- 1095-9203
- OpenAlex
- W2078012795
- Cited by
- 457
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 22 · 2025: 21 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 53 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 23 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 25 · 2018: 31 · 2017: 27 · 2016: 29 · 2015: 21 · 2014: 26 · 2013: 25 · 2012: 17
- FWCI
- 10.07
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Geochemistry and Petrology › Geochemistry and Elemental Analysis
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Chemistry › Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena
- Keywords
- sulfur bacteria, phosphorite formation, phosphogenesis, apatite, hydroxyapatite precipitation, phosphate release, anoxia, marine sediment, Namibian continental shelf, phosphorus cycling
- MeSH terms
- Aerobiosis, Anaerobiosis, Diffusion, Energy Metabolism, Hydroxyapatites, Minerals, Nitrates, Oxidation-Reduction, Phosphates, Polyphosphates, Chemical Precipitation, Seawater, Sulfides, Thermodynamics, Geologic Sediments, Thiotrichaceae
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
