N. Benomar et al., MYXOCOCCUS-XANTHUS KILLED CELLS AS INDUCERS OF STRUVITE CRYSTALLIZATION - ITS POSSIBLE ROLE IN THE BIOMINERALIZATION PROCESSES, Chemosphere, 30(12), 1995, pp. 2387-2396
We studied the possibility of struvite formation using killed cells of
Myxococcus xanthus. Cells were killed by heat, UV light and sonicatio
n. In all cases, we show that struvite crystallization occurs and we p
ropose that the dead cells or cell debris can act by themselves as het
erogeneous crystallization nuclei. We also show that the slime, produc
ed by Myxococcus in a large quantities, is not involved in this proces
s.