Anorthite mineral
Anorthite is the calcium-rich plagioclase feldspar species with ideal endmember formula Ca(Al2Si2O8), grandfathered in the September 2026 IMA list with original-description year 1823. It is distinct from elemental calcium, aluminium or silicon, generic feldspar and mixed rock resources. The bacterial experiment used natural plagioclase reported as approximately An90; the separate fungal experiment used a purchased, source-assigned anorthite feed with unresolved bulk-composition and phase-purity limitations. Neither feed is assumed to be the pure endmember. No constituent criticality is inherited.
Microbial & Biochemical Mechanisms (2)
Element-dependent release during bacterial contact with calcium-rich plagioclase
bioleaching
Microbial
Associated Organisms:
Paenibacillus polymyxa (NCBITaxon:1406)
Paenibacillus polymyxa cultures were associated with increased Ca, Al and Si release from source-assigned anorthite relative to a water-only mineral control. Direct-contact cultures released more Al and Si but less Ca than cultures with the mineral enclosed in a dialysis bag. This element-dependent response does not establish that attachment universally accelerates dissolution.
Experimental Context & Analytical Limits:
Zhou et al. selected natural plagioclase from layered amphibole gabbro at Daiqianshan, Putian, Fujian, reporting an An component of approximately 90%, not 90% measured mineral purity. The 75-180 micrometre feed was washed five times with ethanol and ultrasonication, treated with pH-4 HCl for two hours, rinsed and dried at 70 degrees C. Each flask contained 0.80 g mineral and 100 mL liquid; feed and modified Bromfield medium were autoclaved at 121 degrees C for 20 minutes. A CGMCC-sourced P. polymyxa stock was precultured in beef-peptone medium; a pellet from 2 mL culture was washed five times before inoculation. The inspected Chinese original does not specify a culture accession or measured starting cell density. Modified Bromfield medium contained sucrose 0.5%, yeast extract 0.02%, KH2PO4 0.05%, (NH4)2SO4 0.1% and MgSO4·7H2O 0.015% by mass per volume. Triplicate arms used water plus mineral without cells or medium, inoculated medium with freely suspended mineral, and inoculated medium with mineral inside a 14 kDa dialysis bag. Flasks ran at 30 degrees C and 100 rpm for 240 hours, with 5 mL samples at 0, 18, 48, 96, 168 and 240 hours. Samples were acidified to pH 1-2 and held for one hour to desorb cell-bound elements before centrifugation and ICP-AES; the measured fraction is not exclusively freely dissolved ions.
Zhou et al. selected natural plagioclase from layered amphibole gabbro at Daiqianshan, Putian, Fujian, reporting an An component of approximately 90%, not 90% measured mineral purity. The 75-180 micrometre feed was washed five times with ethanol and ultrasonication, treated with pH-4 HCl for two hours, rinsed and dried at 70 degrees C. Each flask contained 0.80 g mineral and 100 mL liquid; feed and modified Bromfield medium were autoclaved at 121 degrees C for 20 minutes. A CGMCC-sourced P. polymyxa stock was precultured in beef-peptone medium; a pellet from 2 mL culture was washed five times before inoculation. The inspected Chinese original does not specify a culture accession or measured starting cell density. Modified Bromfield medium contained sucrose 0.5%, yeast extract 0.02%, KH2PO4 0.05%, (NH4)2SO4 0.1% and MgSO4·7H2O 0.015% by mass per volume. Triplicate arms used water plus mineral without cells or medium, inoculated medium with freely suspended mineral, and inoculated medium with mineral inside a 14 kDa dialysis bag. Flasks ran at 30 degrees C and 100 rpm for 240 hours, with 5 mL samples at 0, 18, 48, 96, 168 and 240 hours. Samples were acidified to pH 1-2 and held for one hour to desorb cell-bound elements before centrifugation and ICP-AES; the measured fraction is not exclusively freely dissolved ions.
Curated Evidence Points:
Support
Source:
zhou_2011
Figure 2 and section 2.2 show greater endpoint Ca, Al and Si concentrations in both bacterial arms than the water control, with higher Ca through dialysis and higher Al/Si under direct contact. Figures 3-4 show altered surfaces and Raman spectra, supporting alteration of the source-assigned feed. These are laboratory release observations, not recovered-product yields.
Partial
Source:
zhou_2011
The water-only comparator lacks growth medium, and there is no matched sterile-medium, killed-cell or pH-matched control. Both bacterial arms initially acidified from about pH 7 to 4.3, but their later pH histories diverged. The 14 kDa barrier changes access of cells and large metabolites as well as transport. Therefore the contact comparison does not isolate attachment, proton exchange or chelation as a unique cause. The authors also acknowledge that residual adsorbed protons from acid pretreatment may affect release.
Partial
Source:
zhou_2011
Proposed proton-exchange control of Ca and ligand attack on Al-O-Si bonds are interpretations of solution trajectories, fitted kinetics and Raman changes, not direct measurements of individual causal reactions. The reported surface particles are not compositionally identified secondary minerals. Precipitation and adsorption can change solution ratios, so those ratios do not by themselves measure stoichiometric dissolution or a phase-specific mass balance.
Context_only
Source:
ncbi_polymyxa
Taxon 1406 resolves the reported species name; it does not establish the identity or phenotype of the experimental CGMCC stock.
Fungal leaching of a compositionally unresolved anorthite-labelled feed
bioleaching
Microbial
Associated Organisms:
Ramichloridium apiculatum (NCBITaxon:470080)
Source-identified Ramichloridium apiculatum CMS-1 cultures increased Ca and Mg release from a purchased anorthite-labelled feed. Direct-contact cultures gave greater release than the 10 kDa dialysis treatment. These are whole-feed observations; the host phase of released Mg and the phase-specific contribution of anorthite remain unresolved.
Experimental Context & Analytical Limits:
Ma et al. used purchased 38-74 micrometre powder, assigned anorthite by XRD in Figure 1 and showing anorthite and quartz assignments in Figure 11. Table 1 bulk XRF reports 30.93% SiO2, 24.21% CaO, 19.17% MgO, 16.50% Fe2O3 and 4.06% Al2O3. This is incompatible with pure anorthite endmember chemistry; no quantitative phase composition is supplied. Soil isolate CMS-1 was assigned to R. apiculatum by ITS similarity and phylogeny. Growth screening selected 4 wt% spore suspension, glucose, NH4Cl and initial pH 7.5 among the tested options; the prepared suspension contained 10^6 spores/mL. Leaching used 2 g feed and 100 mL liquid in 250 mL flasks, 30 degrees C, 150 rpm and 21 days, with triplicate treatments and sampling every 48 hours. Water-plus-feed and uninoculated-medium-plus-feed arms accompanied the fungal treatment. The direct-contact comparison used a 10 kDa regenerated-cellulose bag enclosing the mineral in the fungal culture. Methods call the leach medium Czapek medium while results state that Mg and Fe were removed relative to the growth medium; the exact final substituted formulation is not fully restated. Feed and liquid were autoclaved at 121.1 degrees C for 20 minutes. Acidified supernatants were analysed by EDTA titration, with Mg calculated from total Ca-plus-Mg minus separately measured Ca.
Ma et al. used purchased 38-74 micrometre powder, assigned anorthite by XRD in Figure 1 and showing anorthite and quartz assignments in Figure 11. Table 1 bulk XRF reports 30.93% SiO2, 24.21% CaO, 19.17% MgO, 16.50% Fe2O3 and 4.06% Al2O3. This is incompatible with pure anorthite endmember chemistry; no quantitative phase composition is supplied. Soil isolate CMS-1 was assigned to R. apiculatum by ITS similarity and phylogeny. Growth screening selected 4 wt% spore suspension, glucose, NH4Cl and initial pH 7.5 among the tested options; the prepared suspension contained 10^6 spores/mL. Leaching used 2 g feed and 100 mL liquid in 250 mL flasks, 30 degrees C, 150 rpm and 21 days, with triplicate treatments and sampling every 48 hours. Water-plus-feed and uninoculated-medium-plus-feed arms accompanied the fungal treatment. The direct-contact comparison used a 10 kDa regenerated-cellulose bag enclosing the mineral in the fungal culture. Methods call the leach medium Czapek medium while results state that Mg and Fe were removed relative to the growth medium; the exact final substituted formulation is not fully restated. Feed and liquid were autoclaved at 121.1 degrees C for 20 minutes. Acidified supernatants were analysed by EDTA titration, with Mg calculated from total Ca-plus-Mg minus separately measured Ca.
Curated Evidence Points:
Support
Source:
ma_2024
Figures 8-10 support culture-associated Ca/Mg release from this feed, with acidification, compared with water and medium controls. Figures 14-15 support greater whole-feed release under direct contact than dialysis. Figures 11-13 document diffraction, surface and infrared changes after treatment. None of these measurements partitions release among constituent mineral phases.
Partial
Source:
ma_2024
Table 1 bulk chemistry conflicts with a pure-anorthite interpretation, especially its high Mg/Fe and low Al content; ideal anorthite contains no Mg. The oxide table, source-assigned diffraction peaks and selected-area EDS in Table 2 are not interchangeable measures of purity. A relative increase in quartz peaks does not establish newly precipitated quartz. The reported Ca/Mg enhancements and percentages cannot be transferred to pure anorthite or treated as isolated recovery yields. Phase identification or the reported oxide table requires clarification.
Partial
Source:
ma_2024
The barrier excludes large metabolites and alters transport as well as direct contact; matched pH histories, killed-cell controls and a measured organic-acid series are absent. Similar minimum pH in the two fungal arms does not mean identical solution chemistry throughout incubation. Proposed proton exchange, complexation and mechanical disruption are not independently isolated causes. Unlike the bacterial experiment above, Ca release was higher under direct contact, but feed composition, organism and media differ, so these are not matched contradictory experiments. The study does not demonstrate CO2 mineralization, industrial deployment or an isolated product.
Context_only
Source:
genbank_ramichloridium_reference
Figure 2 includes NR_145091.1, which resolves to type-derived R. apiculatum CBS 156.59 ITS sequence. It supports the named reference, not a deposited CMS-1 sequence. The source-reported isolate identification remains provisional and is not independently authenticated here.
Context_only
Source:
ncbi_ramichloridium
Taxon 470080 resolves R. apiculatum at species rank; it is not specific to CMS-1.
Sources & References
-
ima_2026_09: IMA-CNMNC. The New IMA List of Minerals, September 2026. Definitions pages 1-2 and anorthite row page 11, G, 1823. Retained original list row visually re-inspected on 14 October 2026.
https://cnmnc.units.it/files/editor/IMA_Master_List_(2026-09).pdf (accessed 2026-10-14) -
anorthite_handbook: Handbook of Mineralogy. Anorthite, 2001 version 1.2. Complete one-page entry, plagioclase compositional range and endmember chemistry.
https://www.handbookofmineralogy.org/pdfs/anorthite.pdf (accessed 2026-10-14) -
zhou_2011: Zhou Yuefei, Wang Rucheng and Lu Xiancai (2011). Microbial adhesion accelerates anorthite dissolution, direct evidence from a dialysis experiment [Chinese original title translated]. Scientia Sinica Terrae 41(10):1454-1462. DOI 10.1360/zd-2011-41-10-1454. Complete nine-page Chinese original, sections 1-4, Figures 1-4 and Table 1 inspected. Front page identifies the corresponding English edition, Anorthite dissolution promoted by bacterial adhesion, Science China Earth Sciences 54:204-211, DOI 10.1007/s11430-010-4068-y; these editions are not independent experiments.
https://doi.org/10.1360/zd-2011-41-10-1454 (accessed 2026-10-14) -
ma_2024: Ma Jiongzheng, Guo Jianying, Liu Shengyu, Chang Chengbing and Wen Quanbao (2024). Growth characteristics of Ramichloridium apiculatum and its effect on Ca2+ and Mg2+ leaching from anorthite. The Chinese Journal of Process Engineering 24(8):982-992. DOI 10.12034/j.issn.1009-606X.223330. Complete 11-page original, sections 2-4, Figures 1-15 and Tables 1-2 inspected.
https://doi.org/10.12034/j.issn.1009-606X.223330 (accessed 2026-10-14) -
ncbi_polymyxa: NCBI Taxonomy 1406. Paenibacillus polymyxa, species. Official taxonomy XML inspected on 14 October 2026; this is not a strain identifier.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?id=1406 (accessed 2026-10-14) -
ncbi_ramichloridium: NCBI Taxonomy 470080. Ramichloridium apiculatum, species. Official taxonomy XML inspected on 14 October 2026; this does not independently authenticate isolate CMS-1.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?id=470080 (accessed 2026-10-14) -
genbank_ramichloridium_reference: NCBI GenBank NR_145091.1. Ramichloridium apiculatum CBS 156.59 ITS region, from TYPE material. Official sequence XML inspected; the paper's phylogenetic reference sequence is not a CMS-1 deposit.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/NR_145091.1 (accessed 2026-10-14)
Curation History
| Timestamp | Curator | Action | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
2026-10-14T11:30:02Z |
codex (GPT-6; codex) | CREATE | Created anorthite with element-dependent bacterial release and separately scoped fungal mixed-feed evidence, retaining experimental, compositional and taxonomic limitations. |
Record source: data/records/anorthite.yaml