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Science 12 March 2004:
Vol. 303. no. 5664, pp. 1656 - 1658
DOI: 10.1126/science.1092098
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Reports

Microbial Polysaccharides Template Assembly of Nanocrystal Fibers

Clara S. Chan,1* Gelsomina De Stasio,2,4*{dagger} Susan A. Welch,3{ddagger} Marco Girasole,5 Bradley H. Frazer,2,4 Maria V. Nesterova,3§ Sirine Fakra,6 Jillian F. Banfield1,3{dagger}

Biological systems can produce extraordinary inorganic structures and morphologies. The mechanisms of synthesis are poorly understood but are of great interest for engineering novel materials. We use spectromicroscopy to show that microbially generated submicrometer-diameter iron oxyhydroxide (FeOOH) filaments contain polysaccharides, providing an explanation for the formation of akaganeite pseudo–single crystals with aspect ratios of ~1000:1. We infer that the cells extrude the polysaccharide strands to localize FeOOH precipitation in proximity to the cell membrane to harness the proton gradient for energy generation. Characterization of organic compounds with high spatial resolution, correlated with mineralogical information, should improve our understanding of biomineralization mechanisms.

1 Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
2 Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
3 Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
4 Synchrotron Radiation Center, Stoughton, WI 53589, USA.
5 Istituto di Struttura della Materia, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Rome 00044, Italy.
6 Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.


* These authors contributed equally to this work.

{ddagger} Present address: Department of Earth and Marine Sciences, Research School of Earth Sciences, and Cooperative Research Centre for Landscape Environments and Mineral Exploration, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia.

§ Present address: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717, USA.

{dagger} To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: jill{at}eps.berkeley.edu (J.F.B.), pupa{at}src.wisc.edu (G.D.S.)

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)