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Expression of Critical Sulfur- and Iron-Oxidation Genes and the Community Dynamics During Bioleaching of Chalcopyrite Concentrate by Moderate Thermophiles

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Abstract

Sulfate adenylyltransferase gene and 4Fe–4S ferredoxin gene are the key genes related to sulfur and iron oxidations during bioleaching system, respectively. In order to better understand the bioleaching and microorganism synergistic mechanism in chalcopyrite bioleaching by mixed culture of moderate thermophiles, expressions of the two energy metabolism genes and community dynamics of free and attached microorganisms were investigated. Specific primers were designed for real-time quantitative PCR to study the expression of these genes. Real-time PCR results showed that sulfate adenylyltransferase gene was more highly expressed in Sulfobacillus thermosulfidooxidans than that in Acidithiobacillus caldus, and expression of 4Fe–4S ferredoxin gene was higher in Ferroplasma thermophilum than that in S. thermosulfidooxidans and Leptospirillum ferriphilum. The results indicated that in the bioleaching system of chalcopyrite concentrate, sulfur and iron oxidations were mainly performed by S. thermosulfidooxidans and F. thermophilum, respectively. The community dynamics results revealed that S. thermosulfidooxidans took up the largest proportion during the whole period, followed by F. thermophilum, A. caldus, and L. ferriphilum. The CCA analysis showed that 4Fe–4S ferredoxin gene expression was mainly affected (positively correlated) by high pH and elevated concentration of ferrous ion, while no factor was observed to prominently influence the expression of sulfate adenylyltransferase gene.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the China National Basic Research Program (No. 2010CB630903), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 31200382, 31470230, 51320105006), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2012M521562), the Planned Science and Technology Project of Hunan Province, China (No. 2013FJ4068) and Australia CSIRO OCE Science Leader Grant.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha, China

    Dan Zhou, Tangjian Peng, Hongbo Zhou, Xueduan Liu, Guohua Gu, Guanzhou Qiu & Weimin Zeng

  2. Key Laboratory of Biometallurgy, Ministry of Education, Changsha, 410083, Hunan, China

    Hongbo Zhou, Xueduan Liu, Guohua Gu, Guanzhou Qiu & Weimin Zeng

  3. CSIRO Process Science and Engineering, Clayton, VIC, Australia

    Miao Chen & Weimin Zeng

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  1. Dan Zhou
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  2. Tangjian Peng
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  3. Hongbo Zhou
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  4. Xueduan Liu
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  5. Guohua Gu
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  6. Miao Chen
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  7. Guanzhou Qiu
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  8. Weimin Zeng
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Correspondence to Weimin Zeng.

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Zhou, D., Peng, T., Zhou, H. et al. Expression of Critical Sulfur- and Iron-Oxidation Genes and the Community Dynamics During Bioleaching of Chalcopyrite Concentrate by Moderate Thermophiles. Curr Microbiol 71, 62–69 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-015-0817-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-015-0817-7

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