Ojha Amiya, Bandyopadhyay Tarun Kanti, Das Deeplina, Dey Palash
Department of Bioengineering, National Institute of Technology Agartala, Agartala, Tripura, 799046, India.
Department of Chemical Engineering, NIT Agartala, Agartala, Tripura, 799046, India.
Mol Biotechnol. 2025 May 8. doi: 10.1007/s12033-025-01433-5.
Microbial carbonate mineralization, the process by which microorganisms (Bacillus sp., Sporosarcina sp., Penicillium sp., Cyanobacteria, etc.) directly mediate or indirectly influence mineral formation and deposition, represents the next frontier in technology with vast potential across scientific disciplines, including construction, environmental remediation, and carbon sequestration. This review explores the fundamental aspects of microbial carbonate mineralization, focusing on key mechanisms such as photosynthesis, methane oxidation, sulfate reduction, ureolysis, denitrification, carbonic anhydrase activity, iron reduction, and EPS mediation, all of which influence carbonate saturation and mineral nucleation. Additionally, it highlights critical regulatory factors that enhance biomineralization for bio-inspired material development in heavy metal remediation, wastewater treatment, self-healing concrete, biomedical applications, nanoscale technologies, and 3D printing. A major focus is microbial-induced calcite precipitation (MICP), an emerging and cost-efficient biomineralization technique, with an in-depth analysis of its molecular mechanisms and expanding applications. Furthermore, this review discusses current challenges, including process scalability, long-term stability, and environmental and safety considerations, while identifying future research directions to improve the efficacy and sustainability of microbial carbonate mineralization in advanced technological applications.
微生物碳酸盐矿化是指微生物（芽孢杆菌属、孢芽孢杆菌属、青霉属、蓝细菌等）直接介导或间接影响矿物质形成和沉积的过程，它代表了一项具有广阔潜力的前沿技术，在包括建筑、环境修复和碳封存等多个科学领域都有应用。本综述探讨了微生物碳酸盐矿化的基本方面，重点关注光合作用、甲烷氧化、硫酸盐还原、尿素分解、反硝化作用、碳酸酐酶活性、铁还原和胞外聚合物介导等关键机制，这些机制都会影响碳酸盐饱和度和矿物成核。此外，它还强调了关键调控因素，这些因素可增强生物矿化作用，以用于重金属修复、废水处理、自修复混凝土、生物医学应用、纳米技术和3D打印等领域中受生物启发的材料开发。一个主要重点是微生物诱导碳酸钙沉淀（MICP），这是一种新兴的、具有成本效益的生物矿化技术，并对其分子机制和不断扩展的应用进行了深入分析。此外，本综述讨论了当前面临的挑战，包括工艺可扩展性、长期稳定性以及环境和安全方面的考虑，同时确定了未来的研究方向，以提高微生物碳酸盐矿化在先进技术应用中的功效和可持续性。
