The genesis of dolomite is a century-old mystery in sedimentology. The 'microbial dolomite model' proposed in recent years provides new insight into the study of dolomite genesis. However, the lack of research on the precipitation rate makes it difficult to judge whether the microbial dolomite can be deposited as a thick dolomite formation alone. In this review, the precipitation rates (about 10−12 to 10−9 cm · s−1) and productivity (about 1.3–7.9 × 10−7 cm · s−1) are estimated preliminarily, the results of cold seeps (10 −11.7 to 10 −12.5 cm · s−1) and previous modeling work (10−11.8 cm · s−1) were collected, and the possible precipitation rates of ancient (6.1–7.5 × 10−11 cm · s−1) and modern sabkha (5.9 × 10−10 to 1.3 × 10−9 cm · s−1) were calculated. To some extent, it does be possible that microbial dolomite can form a thick layer alone (because of the high productivity), but increasing order is a long process with the transformation of diagenesis. In terms of precipitation rate, there is less possibility in Sabkha, but more in cold seeps. The study on the precipitation rate of microbial dolomite may bring new enlightenment to the dolomite genesis and other fields, such as the reconstruction of paleoenvironment and study of the origin of life, but more elaborate culture experiments and modeling works are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]