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Metal Resistance-Related Genes are Differently Expressed in Response to Copper and Zinc Ion in Six Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans Strains

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Abstract

Metal resistance of acidophilic bacteria is very significant during bioleaching of copper ores since high concentration of metal is harmful to the growth of microorganisms. The resistance levels of six Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans strains to 0.15 M copper and 0.2 M zinc were investigated, and eight metal resistance-related genes (afe-0022, afe-0326, afe-0329, afe-1143, afe-0602, afe-0603, afe-0604, and afe-1788) were sequenced and analyzed. The transcriptional expression levels of eight possible metal tolerance genes in six A. ferrooxidans strains exposed to 0.15 M Cu2+ and 0.2 M Zn2+ were determined by real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR), respectively. The copper resistance levels of six A. ferrooxidans strains declined followed by DY26, DX5, DY15, GD-B, GD-0, and YTW. The zinc tolerance levels of six A. ferrooxidans strains exposed to 0.2 M Zn2+ from high to low were YTW > GD-B > DY26 > GD-0 > DX5 > DY15. Seven metal tolerance-related genes all presented in the genome of six strains, except afe-0604. The metal resistance-related genes showed different transcriptional expression patterns in six A. ferrooxidans strains. The expression of gene afe-0326 and afe-0022 in six A. ferrooxidans strains in response to 0.15 M Cu2+ showed the same trend with the resistance levels. The expression levels of genes afe-0602, afe-0603, afe-0604, and afe-1788 in six strains response to 0.2 M Zn2+ did not show a clear correlation between the zinc tolerance levels of six strains. According to the results of RT-qPCR and bioinformatics analysis, the proteins encoded by afe-0022, afe-0326, afe-0329, and afe-1143 were related to Cu2+ transport of A. ferrooxidans strains.

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Acknowledgments

This research is supported by the National Key Basic Research Program of China (No. 2010CB630901).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Lab of Biometallurgy of Ministry of Education of China, School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, No. 932 Lushan South Road, Yuelu District, Changsha, 410083, Hunan Province, People’s Republic of China

    Xueling Wu, Zhenzhen Zhang, Lili Liu, Fanfan Deng, Xinxing Liu & Guanzhou Qiu

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  1. Xueling Wu
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  2. Zhenzhen Zhang
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Correspondence to Xinxing Liu.

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Wu, X., Zhang, Z., Liu, L. et al. Metal Resistance-Related Genes are Differently Expressed in Response to Copper and Zinc Ion in Six Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans Strains. Curr Microbiol 69, 775–784 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-014-0652-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-014-0652-2

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