I want to attain some knowledge on calcite producing algae that can sustain high alkaline atmosphere (water or soil). If any one have some information or working on this aspect please share some literature and experiences.
Thanks.
Due to photosynthetic activity a number of aquatic micro and macroalgae may precipitate calcite that can be stored in sediments or can remain attached to the surface of the thallus. Autotrophic picoplankton (APP) in not too much productive alkaline lakes is claimed to be responsible for a mass precipitation of carbonates and the phenomenon is called 'the lake whiting'. A special role is played by some macroalgae from the group called charophytes (Characeae, other English name is stoneworts). Charophytes grow in alkaline waters and may precipitate calcite in amounts of up to 60-70% or even more of their dry weight. Therefore, this group of macroalgae is responsible for the water decalcification and significant contribution in the calcium-rich sediment deposition. For some paper view my profile - there you will find contributions concerning calcite precipitation by charophytes and its environmental and palaeoecological significance, as well as references to wide international literature in this subject.
Good luck! Mariusz Pelechaty
Coralline algae/ red algae in the order Corallinales deposit calcite in their cell walls. In addition there are some calcereous marine microalgae (e.g. Emiliania huxleyi, Gephyrocapsa oceanica) that produce calcareous skeletons.
http://nuweb2.neu.edu/rieslab/JSEDR_Ries.pdf
http://epic.awi.de/3784/1/Rie2000a.pdf
Those calcareous marine microalgae that Dola mentioned are coccolithophyceae. Go to Jeremy Young page, here at ResearchGate, where you can find some papers about that.
Some years before, in our research group, we studied the freshwater calcite flagellate Phacotus. Please find in the attachment a paper which refers to our other publications. If you are interested, I can send you these papers.
Hi,
There are also cyanoprokaryotes that precipitate carbonates (Ca and Mg) inside:
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/336/6080/459.short
Dittrich and Obst presented a review of the participation of the picoplancton in the whiting of some Lakes (calcite precipitation) and the mechanisms of calcite precipitation: http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1579/0044-7447-33.8.559
I hope it will help you
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