
Fungi dissolve soil minerals by acidification and mechanical disruption. Dissolution may occur at the microscale (contact between fungus and mineral) and medium scale (entire mineral grains). Mineral weathering by fungi and other microorganisms is thought to be of significant global contribution, perhaps producing specific weathering signatures. We report fungal dissolution of phlogopite mica in experiments with three fungal strains (Alternaria tenuissima, Cladosporium cladosporioides, Stilbella sp.) on solid medium for 30 days at 21 °C and 96-100% relative humidity. The study used variable-pressure SEM-EDS equipped with charge contrast imaging. Statistical analysis of the results discriminated between the weathering activities of the three fungal species, which increased from Stilbella sp. to C. cladosporioides to A. tenuissima, in agreement with the respective decreasing pH in the media (6.4, 5.8, 5.2 ± 0.03). Phlogopite weathering features were irregular and variable, apparently not caused by direct contact with fungal hyphae. EDS values indicated two or more dissolution mechanisms, one of them suggesting cation rearrangement in the mica towards formation of Al-rich smectite. Intimate fungus-mineral interaction was observed, and the lack of observable dissolution traces from such contact interaction is interpreted as the result of effacing by the more intense acid leaching operating at larger scale.
Bioweathering; Fungi; Geomicrobiology; Mica; SEM-EDS, Temperature, Alternaria, Hydrogen-Ion Concentration, Culture Media, Hypocreales, Environmental Microbiology, Aluminum Silicates, Cladosporium, Metabolic Networks and Pathways
Bioweathering; Fungi; Geomicrobiology; Mica; SEM-EDS, Temperature, Alternaria, Hydrogen-Ion Concentration, Culture Media, Hypocreales, Environmental Microbiology, Aluminum Silicates, Cladosporium, Metabolic Networks and Pathways
| selected citations These citations are derived from selected sources. This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | 17 | |
| popularity This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network. | Top 10% | |
| influence This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | Average | |
| impulse This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network. | Top 10% |
