Plant Science

In recent years, the calcifying properties of some cyanobacteria have been used in the production of living building materials (LBMs), such as bio-concrete, as a CO₂-friendly alternative for cement. This microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation (MICP) technique can act as a novel platform technology for carbon capture strategies. Consequently, various research articles have been conducted based on a diverse set of workflows, including several modifications, to manufacture LBMs. However, such articles contain only fragmentary descriptions of the materials and methods used. This protocol is meant to act as a detailed, step-by-step operational manual for the production of LBMs using the cyanobacterial model strain Picosynechococcus sp. PCC 7002. The process is divided into several steps, such as the activation of the cyanobacterial-gel solution with CaCl₂ × 2H₂O and NaHCO₃, casting standardized prisms (160 × 40 × 40 mm), and demolding LBMs. Subsequently, bending tensile and compressive strength tests are performed according to the procedures commonly used in concrete and material testing as proof of concept.

Silica cells are specialized leaf epidermal cells in grasses with almost the whole cell volume filled with solid silica. In sorghum, silica deposition in silica cells takes place in young, elongating leaves around the mid-length of the leaf. We developed a protocol for estimating the level of silica cell silicification in Sorghum bicolor leaves using in situ charring method (Kumar et al., 2017a). Here, we provide greater details on our protocol and method of image analysis. Although we based our protocol on sorghum, this protocol can be extended for estimating silica cell silicification level in any grass species.