Quantitative analysis of the elemental composition and the mass of bacterial polyphosphate bodies using STEM EDX

The quantitative analysis of laboratory grown organisms (Plectonema boryanu m and Staphylococcus aureus) revealed that a typical in vivo polyphosphate body (PPB) contains O (4.3 x 10(-8) mug), C (1.2 x 10(-8) mug), P (6.7 x 10 (-9) mug), Mg (1.3 x 10(-9) mug), Ca (6.7 x 10(-10) mug) K (6.7 x 10(-10) m ug), Fe (6.0 x 10(-10) mug), S (5.4 x 10(-10) mug) and Al (5.9 x 10(-16) mu g). Quantitative X-ray analysis of samples from nature showed PPB contain O (1.63 x 10(-8) mug), C (4.75 x 10(-9) mug), P (2.50 x 10(-9) mug) Mg (5.0 x 10(-10) mug), Ca (2.50 x 10(-10) mug), K (2.50 x 10(-10) mug), Fe (2.25 x 10(-6) mug) and S (2.0 x 10(-10) mug). The mass of an average polyphosphat e body was 6.7 x 10(-8) mug for P. boryanum, 2.5 x 10(-8) mug for S. aureus and for microbes from the natural environment 6.3 x 10(-8) mug. results in dicate that the PPB may have other unknown functions in addition to essenti al element storage, acting as a detoxification method by sequestering heavy metals and providing a homeostasis system in the cell.