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SUMMARY:The ins and outs of uranium biomineralization: extracellular trans
 formation and membrane interactions
DTSTART:20110509T161500
DTSTAMP:20260916T225604Z
UID:c02fa0fbb8ef7db53414f433afd83b1820c4aa6f38689e43e96c1fe9
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Prof. Susan GLASAUER\; University of Guelph\, CA\nThrough meta
 l respiration\, bacteria control geochemical equilibria. This in turn affe
 cts mineral formation and has implications for the genesis of sediments as
  well as for the bioremediation of subsurface metal contamination.   Some 
 subsurface bacteria that exist at the limits for life have evolved unique 
 mechanisms for coping with or even exploiting metals\, including uranium\,
  which we have been studying from the perspectives of biomineralization an
 d bacterial integrity. The largest reservoir of U in the environment is in
  the solid phase.  This challenges bacteria at two points during metal res
 piration: 1) the bacteria must be able to access solid U in mineral form\,
  which is typically more chemically stable than soluble U\, and 2) soluble
  U produced consequent to the respiration of U or other metals associated 
 with uranium minerals may impact cell wall integrity.  The abundance of ch
 arged groups associated with bacterial cell wall components should favor m
 etal sorption\, leading to mineral nucleation and growth. In contrast\, we
  observe that mineral precipitation on bacteria during the respiration of 
 carnotite [K2(UO2)2V2O8∙H2O]\, major uranium ore\, is relatively sparse.
   New results show that U strongly disrupts bacterial membrane fluidity\, 
 which has implications for survival and for U biomineralization.  
LOCATION:GR B3 30
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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