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Science 1 December 2000:
Vol. 290. no. 5497, pp. 1744 - 1747
DOI: 10.1126/science.290.5497.1744
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Reports

Formation of Sphalerite (ZnS) Deposits in Natural Biofilms of Sulfate-Reducing Bacteria

Matthias Labrenz,1 Gregory K. Druschel,1 Tamara Thomsen-Ebert,2 Benjamin Gilbert,3 Susan A. Welch,1 Kenneth M. Kemner,4 Graham A. Logan,5 Roger E. Summons,5 Gelsomina De Stasio,3 Philip L. Bond,1 Barry Lai,4 Shelly D. Kelly,4 Jillian F. Banfield1*

Abundant, micrometer-scale, spherical aggregates of 2- to 5-nanometer-diameter sphalerite (ZnS) particles formed within natural biofilms dominated by relatively aerotolerant sulfate-reducing bacteria of the family Desulfobacteriaceae. The biofilm zinc concentration is about 106 times that of associated groundwater (0.09 to 1.1 parts per million zinc). Sphalerite also concentrates arsenic (0.01 weight %) and selenium (0.004 weight %). The almost monomineralic product results from buffering of sulfide concentrations at low values by sphalerite precipitation. These results show how microbes control metal concentrations in groundwater- and wetland-based remediation systems and suggest biological routes for formation of some low-temperature ZnS deposits.

1 Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1215 West Dayton Street, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
2 Diversions Scuba, Madison, WI 53705, USA.
3 Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1150 University Avenue, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
4 Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439, USA.
5 Australian Geological Survey Organisation, GPO Box 378, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: jill{at}geology.wisc.edu

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