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Investigation of energy gene expressions and community structures of free and attached acidophilic bacteria in chalcopyrite bioleaching

  • Environmental Microbiology
  • Published:
Journal of Industrial Microbiology & Biotechnology

Abstract

In order to better understand the bioleaching mechanism, expression of genes involved in energy conservation and community structure of free and attached acidophilic bacteria in chalcopyrite bioleaching were investigated. Using quantitative real-time PCR, we studied the expression of genes involved in energy conservation in free and attached Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans during bioleaching of chalcopyrite. Sulfur oxidation genes of attached A. ferrooxidans were up-regulated while ferrous iron oxidation genes were down-regulated compared with free A. ferrooxidans in the solution. The up-regulation may be induced by elemental sulfur on the mineral surface. This conclusion was supported by the results of HPLC analysis. Sulfur-oxidizing Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans and ferrous-oxidizing Leptospirillum ferrooxidans were the members of the mixed culture in chalcopyrite bioleaching. Study of the community structure of free and attached bacteria showed that A. thiooxidans dominated the attached bacteria while L. ferrooxidans dominated the free bacteria. With respect to available energy sources during bioleaching of chalcopyrite, sulfur-oxidizers tend to be on the mineral surfaces whereas ferrous iron-oxidizers tend to be suspended in the aqueous phase. Taken together, these results indicate that the main role of attached acidophilic bacteria was to oxidize elemental sulfur and dissolution of chalcopyrite involved chiefly an indirect bioleaching mechanism.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.30700008, 51174239) and the National Basic Research Program of China (No.2010CB630905).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, People’s Republic of China

    Jianyu Zhu, Weifeng Jiao, Qian Li, Xueduan Liu, Wenqing Qin, Guanzhou Qiu & Yuehua Hu

  2. Key Laboratory of Biohydrometallurgy of Ministry of Education, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, People’s Republic of China

    Jianyu Zhu, Xueduan Liu, Wenqing Qin, Guanzhou Qiu, Yuehua Hu & Liyuan Chai

  3. School of Metallurgical Science and Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, People’s Republic of China

    Jianyu Zhu & Liyuan Chai

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  1. Jianyu Zhu
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Correspondence to Liyuan Chai.

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Zhu, J., Jiao, W., Li, Q. et al. Investigation of energy gene expressions and community structures of free and attached acidophilic bacteria in chalcopyrite bioleaching. J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol 39, 1833–1840 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10295-012-1190-1

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