Formation and characteristics of biomimetic mineralo-organic particles in natural surface water
Recent studies have shown that nanoparticles exist in environmental water but the formation, characteristics and fate of such particles remain incompletely understood. We show here that surface water obtained from various sources (ocean, hot springs, and soil) produces mineralo-organic particles tha...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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Nature Publishing Group
2017
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/109957 |
| _version_ | 1826200933735858176 |
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| author | Wu, Cheng-Yeu Martel, Jan Wong, Tsui-Yin Liu, Chien-Chun Lin, Cheng-Wei Young, John D. Young, David Y. |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Materials Science and Engineering |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Materials Science and Engineering Wu, Cheng-Yeu Martel, Jan Wong, Tsui-Yin Liu, Chien-Chun Lin, Cheng-Wei Young, John D. Young, David Y. |
| author_sort | Wu, Cheng-Yeu |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Recent studies have shown that nanoparticles exist in environmental water but the formation, characteristics and fate of such particles remain incompletely understood. We show here that surface water obtained from various sources (ocean, hot springs, and soil) produces mineralo-organic particles that gradually increase in size and number during incubation. Seawater produces mineralo-organic particles following several cycles of filtration and incubation, indicating that this water possesses high particle-seeding potential. Electron microscopy observations reveal round, bacteria-like mineral particles with diameters of 20 to 800 nm, which may coalesce and aggregate to form mineralized biofilm-like structures. Chemical analysis of the particles shows the presence of a wide range of chemical elements that form mixed mineral phases dominated by calcium and iron sulfates, silicon and aluminum oxides, sodium carbonate, and iron sulfide. Proteomic analysis indicates that the particles bind to proteins of bacterial, plant and animal origins. When observed under dark-field microscopy, mineral particles derived from soil-water show biomimetic morphologies, including large, round structures similar to cells undergoing division. These findings have important implications not only for the recognition of biosignatures and fossils of small microorganisms in the environment but also for the geochemical cycling of elements, ions and organic matter in surface water. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T11:43:59Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/109957 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T11:43:59Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | Nature Publishing Group |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1099572022-10-01T05:37:09Z Formation and characteristics of biomimetic mineralo-organic particles in natural surface water Wu, Cheng-Yeu Martel, Jan Wong, Tsui-Yin Liu, Chien-Chun Lin, Cheng-Wei Young, John D. Young, David Y. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Materials Science and Engineering Young, David Y. Recent studies have shown that nanoparticles exist in environmental water but the formation, characteristics and fate of such particles remain incompletely understood. We show here that surface water obtained from various sources (ocean, hot springs, and soil) produces mineralo-organic particles that gradually increase in size and number during incubation. Seawater produces mineralo-organic particles following several cycles of filtration and incubation, indicating that this water possesses high particle-seeding potential. Electron microscopy observations reveal round, bacteria-like mineral particles with diameters of 20 to 800 nm, which may coalesce and aggregate to form mineralized biofilm-like structures. Chemical analysis of the particles shows the presence of a wide range of chemical elements that form mixed mineral phases dominated by calcium and iron sulfates, silicon and aluminum oxides, sodium carbonate, and iron sulfide. Proteomic analysis indicates that the particles bind to proteins of bacterial, plant and animal origins. When observed under dark-field microscopy, mineral particles derived from soil-water show biomimetic morphologies, including large, round structures similar to cells undergoing division. These findings have important implications not only for the recognition of biosignatures and fossils of small microorganisms in the environment but also for the geochemical cycling of elements, ions and organic matter in surface water. 2017-06-16T17:36:44Z 2017-06-16T17:36:44Z 2016-06 2016-05 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 2045-2322 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/109957 Wu, Cheng-Yeu et al. “Formation and Characteristics of Biomimetic Mineralo-Organic Particles in Natural Surface Water.” Scientific Reports 6.1 (2016): n. pag. © 2017 Macmillan Publishers Limited en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep28817 Scientific Reports Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ application/pdf Nature Publishing Group Nature |
| spellingShingle | Wu, Cheng-Yeu Martel, Jan Wong, Tsui-Yin Liu, Chien-Chun Lin, Cheng-Wei Young, John D. Young, David Y. Formation and characteristics of biomimetic mineralo-organic particles in natural surface water |
| title | Formation and characteristics of biomimetic mineralo-organic particles in natural surface water |
| title_full | Formation and characteristics of biomimetic mineralo-organic particles in natural surface water |
| title_fullStr | Formation and characteristics of biomimetic mineralo-organic particles in natural surface water |
| title_full_unstemmed | Formation and characteristics of biomimetic mineralo-organic particles in natural surface water |
| title_short | Formation and characteristics of biomimetic mineralo-organic particles in natural surface water |
| title_sort | formation and characteristics of biomimetic mineralo organic particles in natural surface water |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/109957 |
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