All kinds of microbes, including Aspergillus can contribute actively to geological phenomena, and central to many such geomicrobial processes are transformations of metals and minerals.
Microbes have a variety of properties that can effect changes in metal speciation, toxicity and mobility, as well as mineral formation or mineral dissolution or deterioration. Such mechanisms are important components of natural biogeochemical cycles for metals as well as associated elements in biomass, soil, rocks and minerals, e.g. sulfur and phosphorus, and metalloids, actinides and metal radionuclides.
Apart from being important in natural biosphere processes, metal and mineral transformations can have beneficial or detrimental consequences in a human context. Bioremediation is the application of biological systems to the clean-up of organic and inorganic pollution, with bacteria and fungi being the most important organisms for reclamation, immobilization or detoxification of metallic and radionuclide pollutants.
Reviews
Biogenic Weathering of Mineral Substrates (Review) |
Chizhikova et. al. (2016) |
Oxalate production by fungi: significance in geomycology, biodeterioration and bioremediation |
G. M. Gadd et. al (2014) |
Fungi as Geologic Agents |
Katja Sterflinger (2010) |
Biohydrometallurgy for Nonsulfidic Minerals: A Review |
Nalini Jain and D. K. Sharma (2010) |
Geomicrobiology of Eukaryotic Microorganisms |
Geoffrey M. Gadd and John A. Raven (2010) |
Eukaryote-Dominated Biofilms and Their Significance in Acidic Environments |
Sandra S. Brake & Stephen T. Hasiotis (2010) |
Bacterial and fungal geomicrobiology: a problem with communities? |
G. M. GADD (2008) |
Geoffrey M. Gadd (2007) |
Search articles
Author | Title |
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Franco Castillo I, García Guillén E, M de la Fuente J, Silva F, Mitchell SG. | Preventing fungal growth on heritage paper with antifungal and cellulase inhibiting magnesium oxide nanoparticles. |
Schmitz K, Wagner S, Reppke M, Maier CL, Windeisen-Holzhauser E, Benz JP. | Preserving cultural heritage: Analyzing the antifungal potential of ionic liquids tested in paper restoration. |
Yakovleva G, Sagadeev E, Stroganov V, Kozlova O, Okunev R, Ilinskaya O. | Metabolic Activity of Micromycetes Affecting Urban Concrete Constructions. |
Kevin D. Hyde, Abdullah M. S. Al-Hatmi, Birgitte Andersen,Teun Boekhout, Walter Buzina, Thomas L. Dawson Jr., Dan C. Eastwood, E. B. Gareth Jones, Sybren de Hoog, Yingqian Kang, Joyce E. Longcore, Eric H. C. McKenzie, Jacques F. Meis, Laetitia Pinson-Gadais, Achala R. Rathnayaka, Florence Richard-Forget, Marc Stadler, Bart Theelen, Benjarong Thongbai, Clement K. M. Tsui. | The world’s ten most feared fungi |
Man, Baiying; Wang, Hongmei; Xiang, Xing, .Wang, RC (Wang, Ruicheng), Yun, Y (Yun, Yuan), Gong, LF (Gong, Linfeng). | Phylogenetic diversity of culturable fungi in the Heshang Cave, central China |