Manganese Carbonate Precipitation Induced by Calcite-Forming Bacteria

Several dissimilatory metal-reducing bacteria and a halophilic bacterium are able to induce manganese carbonate (rhodochrosite) precipitation. In this study, it was revealed that Ensifer adhaerens JCM 21105^T, Microbacterium testaceum JCM 1353^T, Pseudomonas protegens DSM 19095^T, and Rheinheimera texasensis DSM 17496^T, which are calcite-forming bacteria, were able to aerobically induce the precipitation of manganese carbonate crystals on an agar medium. In the case of all four strains, the principal morphology of the precipitated manganese carbonate crystals was that of micro-sized spheres, when they were aerobically cultivated over the entire surface of the agar medium at 28 °C for 7 days.