Formation of single domain magnetite by green rust oxidation promoted by microbial anaerobic nitrate-dependent iron oxidation

Biomineralization of magnetite is a central geomicrobiological process that might have played a primordial role over Earth's history, possibly leaving traces of life in the geological record or controlling trace metal(loid)s and organic pollutants mobility in modern environments. Magnetite biomineralization has been attributed to two main microbial pathways to date (namely magnetotactic bacteria and dissimilatory iron-reducing bacteria). Here, we uncover a new route of magnetite biomineralization involving the anaerobic nitrate-reducing iron(II) oxidizing bacterium Acidovorax sp. strain BoFeNl. Using transmission electron microscopy, scanning transmission X-ray microscopy, transmission Mossbauer spectroscopy and rock magnetic analyses, this strain is shown to promote the transformation of hydroxychloride green rust in equilibrium with dissolved Fe(II) to (1) periplasmic lepidocrocite (gamma-FeOOH) and (2) extracellular magnetite, thus leading to strong redox heterogeneities at the nanometer scale. On the one hand, lepidocrocite was associated with protein moieties and exhibited an anisotropic texture, with the elongated axis parallel to the cell wall. On the other hand, magnetite crystals exhibited grain sizes and magnetic properties consistent with stable single domain particles. By comparison, abiotic controls led to a very slow (4 months vs. 2 days in BoFeN1 cultures) and incomplete oxidation of hydroxychloride green rust towards magnetite. As this abiotic magnetite exhibited the same size and magnetic properties (stable single domain particles) as magnetite produced in BoFeN1 cultures, only the co-occurrence of textured Fe(III)-oxides and magnetite, associated with the persistence of organic carbon molecules, might constitute valuable biosignatures to be looked for in the geological record. Our results furthermore contribute to a more complex picture of Fe redox cycling in the environment, providing an additional process of Fe(II)-bearing phase biomineralization that is not specific of Fe bio-reduction, but can also result from Fe bio-oxidation. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.