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Lizardite mineral

Lizardite is the Mg3Si2O5(OH)4 mineral species, grandfathered in the September 2026 IMA list with original-description year 1956. It is distinct from elemental magnesium, generic serpentine minerals and ultramafic rock resources. The experimental material was designated lizardite and chemically characterized by the authors; no quantitative phase-purity result is reported in the inspected study. No constituent criticality designation is inherited.

Microbial & Biochemical Mechanisms (1)

C4-10 culture-associated dissolution of a lizardite feed

bioleaching Microbial

Associated Organisms: Priestia aryabhattai (NCBITaxon:412384)

Priestia aryabhattai C4-10 cultures increased magnesium and silicon concentrations relative to uninoculated feed controls, accompanied by acidification and surface-associated cells. Gene-expression correlations are compatible with several contributing processes but do not establish any gene as necessary for dissolution.

Experimental Context & Analytical Limits:
The soil isolate C4-10 was grown in LB, harvested and washed. Methods specify 1.5 mL of a 10^8-cells/mL suspension, 60 mL sterilized BHm and 0.6 g mineral in the dissolution protocol, with lizardite substituting for biotite and MgSO4 omitted from BHm. The lizardite feed was 75-150 micrometres and contained reported oxide fractions including 42.85% MgO and 44.35% SiO2; cleaning follows a cited earlier protocol without restating its details. Triplicate laboratory flasks were incubated at 37 degrees C and 180 rpm, sampled from 4 to 48 hours. The initial BHm preparation pH is 7.0; Figure 2B instead shows uninoculated lizardite media near 7.6 during sampling. Dissolved elements were measured by ICP-OES. The separate biotite transcriptome assay used a different inoculum volume and is not pooled with this lizardite dissolution assay.
Curated Evidence Points:
Results and Figure 2A show higher Mg and Si in C4-10-inoculated lizardite medium than uninoculated controls from 8 to 48 hours; Figure 2 caption gives n=3 and error bars as one standard deviation. Figure 2B shows culture acidification relative to controls, and Figure 2E compares stained cells on the mineral after 24 hours. These observations support conditional culture-associated dissolution, without requiring a gene-specific causal assignment.
There is no pH-matched abiotic comparison separating acid dissolution from other cellular effects. The text describes decreasing culture pH over 4-48 hours, whereas Figure 2B shows a dip followed by partial rebound; this record preserves the figure-level pattern rather than a monotonic decline. Supplemental methods classify siderophore units below 10% as negative, although Figure 2D displays some such values; a positive siderophore mechanism is therefore not assigned to every time point. Feed phase purity and an isolated recovery yield remain unresolved. Surface staining and gene correlations do not prove intracellular uptake or gene necessity, and no industrial deployment is demonstrated.

Sources & References

  1. ima_2026_09: IMA-CNMNC. The New IMA List of Minerals, September 2026; PDF page 127, Lizardite row, and pages 1-2 column definitions and terms.
    https://cnmnc.units.it/files/editor/IMA_Master_List_(2026-09).pdf (accessed 2026-10-11)
  2. sheng_2026: Sheng, Zheng, Yang, Dong, He and Sheng (2026). Silicate minerals enhance the expression of genes related to mineral dissolution by Priestia aryabhattai strain C4-10. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 92(2):e02554-25. DOI 10.1128/aem.02554-25; Figure 2, Materials and Methods, and supplemental methods pp1-2.
    https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.02554-25 (accessed 2026-10-11)
  3. ncbi_priestia: NCBI Taxonomy 412384 - Priestia aryabhattai, species; current taxonomy XML inspected 11 October 2026.
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?id=412384&mode=Info (accessed 2026-10-11)
  4. ncbi_c4_10: NCBI assembly GCA_039631325.1, Priestia aryabhattai strain C4-10; linked BioSample SAMN41260351, soil isolate. Assembly dataset report inspected 11 October 2026.
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/datasets/genome/GCA_039631325.1/ (accessed 2026-10-11)

Curation History

Timestamp Curator Action Summary
2026-10-11T10:24:54.074873+00:00 codex (GPT-6; codex) CREATE Created lizardite species record with culture-associated dissolution and source limitations.

Record source: data/records/lizardite.yaml