 Journal of Physics |
| Dear Raveh-Amit, H; Tsesarsky, M, | | Greetings from the editorial office! | | We get to know your precious paper with the title Biostimulation in Desert Soils for Microbial-Induced Calcite Precipitation which has been published in APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL, and the topic of the paper has impressed us a lot. | | We are deeply impressed by your research, the excerpt of which is listed below: | | Txitqle: Biostimulation in Desert Soils for Microbial-Induced Calcite Precipitation | | Apbstrwacst: Microbial-induced calcite precipitation (MICP) is a soil amelioration technique aiming to mitigate different environmental and engineering concerns, including desertification, soil erosion, and soil liquefaction, among others. The hydrolysis of urea, catalyzed by the microbial enzyme urease, is considered the most efficient microbial pathway for MICP. Biostimulated MICP relies on the enhancement of indigenous urea-hydrolyzing bacteria by providing an appropriate enrichment and precipitation medium, as opposed to bioaugmentation, which requires introducing large volumes of exogenous bacterial cultures into the treated soil along with a growth and precipitation medium. Biostimulated MICP in desert soils is challenging as the total carbon content and the bacterial abundance are considerably low. In this study, we examined the biostimulation potential in soils from the Negev Desert, Israel, for the purpose of mitigation of topsoil erosion in arid environments. Incubating soil samples in urea and enrichment media demonstrated effective urea hydrolysis leading to pH increase, which is necessary for calcite precipitation. Biostimulation rates were found to increase with concentrations of energy (carbon) source in the stimulation media, reaching its maximal levels within 3 to 6 days. Following stimulation, calcium carbonate precipitation was induced by spiking stimulated bacteria in precipitation (CaCl2 enriched) media. The results of our research demonstrate that biostimulated MICP is feasible in the low-carbon, mineral soils of the northern Negev Desert in Israel. |
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