Application and mechanism of silicate bacteria in agriculture and industry

TLDR: In this paper, the authors emphasize that problems such as determining the mechanism by which silicate bacteria release K, Al, and Si will require at least the combination of mineralogy, and microbiology for elucidation.

Abstract: Silicate bacteria may have wide potential uses in agriculture and industry. This is a special Bacillus species which produce a rich variety of exo polysaccharides. People have used its capability of dissolving potassium, phosphorus and silicate from minerals through its inclusion in biological fertilizer and have made meaningful progress in this area. It seems that ways may exist to provide the release of significant amounts of potassium or other beneficial elements from soil minerals. In metallurgy, silicate bacteria have been used in the exploitation of low grade ore to aid in the recovery of some valuable elements. The industrial application of silicate bacteria has been mainly concentrated on bacterial leaching and improvement of mineral material properties. In this paper, the writers emphasize that problems such as determining the mechanism by which silicate bacteria release K, Al, and Si will require at least the combination of mineralogy, and microbiology for elucidation. Microbiological mineralogy development can be adapted for this kind of question and can be developed into a fully integrated approach for other similar studies.