Abstract
Clay minerals are very common in nature and highly reactive minerals which are typical products of the weathering of the most abundant silicate minerals on the planet. Over recent decades there has been growing appreciation that the prime involvement of clay minerals in the geochemical cycling of elements and pedosphere genesis should take into account the biogeochemical activity of microorganisms. Microbial intimate interaction with clay minerals, that has taken place on Earth’s surface in a geological time-scale, represents a complex co-evolving system which is challenging to comprehend because of fragmented information and requires coordinated efforts from both clay scientists and microbiologists. This review covers some important aspects of the interactions of clay minerals with microorganisms at the different levels of complexity, starting from organic molecules, individual and aggregated microbial cells, fungal and bacterial symbioses with photosynthetic organisms, pedosphere, up to environmental and biotechnological implications. The review attempts to systematize our current general understanding of the processes of biogeochemical transformation of clay minerals by microorganisms. This paper also highlights some microbiological and biotechnological perspectives of the practical application of clay minerals–microbes interactions not only in microbial bioremediation and biodegradation of pollutants but also in areas related to agronomy and human and animal health.
Highlights
The interactions of clay minerals with microorganisms are ubiquitous on the Earth and have great environmental and economic significance
Clay minerals are primarily referred to as the phyllosilicate family of minerals characterized by the layered structures composed of polymeric sheets of silica tetrahedra and Al, Mg, or Fe-containing octahedral, and with small particle size mostly ranging from nanometres to tens of micrometres [1,2]
The biological effects of clay minerals on the melanin-producing microscopic fungi are of particular interest because this group of dark pigmented microorganisms is well adapted to mineral substrata and harsh environments, commonly occurring in soils and on the rock surfaces, and might play a significant role in pedogenesis because the melanin pigment, in terms of its chemical nature, is one of the most important precursors of the humic substances in soil [65,85,105,111,175,196,197,198]
Summary
The interactions of clay minerals with microorganisms are ubiquitous on the Earth and have great environmental and economic significance. The structure of clay minerals of the second layer type 2:1 is formed by combining two tetrahedral sheets with one octahedral sheet This group includes one of the largest and the most important among phyllosilicates the smectite group (e.g., montmorillonite), as well as the mica group (e.g., illite, muscovite, biotite) and talc group [6]. Clay minerals’ abundance and their remarkable properties make them especially important minerals in natural history of our planet and of a great potential for various practical applications Due to their unique physical and chemical characteristics, such as water-retention and cation exchange capacities, surface-to-volume ratio, influence on the configuration of soil fabric, ability to serve as K sink and reservoir of adsorbed organic carbon, the clay minerals became key players in the interaction between microorganisms and the lithosphere [13]. It attempts to cover some important environmental and biotechnological aspects of these interactions which are related to their use in bioremediation and biodegradation as well as in human and animal health, and agronomic biotechnologies
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