Rui-yong Zhang

Sulfur oxidation activities of pure and mixed thermophiles and sulfur speciation in bioleaching of chalcopyrite

The sulfur oxidation activities of four pure thermophilic archaea Acidianus brierleyi (JCM 8954), Metallosphaera sedula (YN 23), Acidianus manzaensis (YN 25) and Sulfolobus metallicus (YN 24) and their mixture in bioleaching chalcopyrite were compared. Meanwhile, the relevant surface sulfur speciation of chalcopyrite leached with the mixed thermophilic archaea was investigated. The results showed that the mixed culture, with contributing significantly to the raising of leaching rate and accelerating the formation of leaching products, may have a higher sulfur oxidation activity than the pure cultures, and jarosite was the main passivation component hindering the dissolution of chalcopyrite, while elemental sulfur seemed to have no influence on the dissolution of chalcopyrite. In addition, the present results supported the former speculation, i.e., covellite might be converted from chalcocite during the leaching experiments, and the elemental sulfur may partially be the derivation of covellite and chalcocite.

Comparative study on effects of Tween-80 and sodium isobutyl-xanthate on growth and sulfur-oxidizing activities of Acidithiobacillus albertensis BY-05

Abstract Effects of two typical surfactants, Tween-80 and sodium isobutyl-xanthate (NaIBX), with different concentrations on the growth and sulfur-oxidizing activities of a new strain Acidithiobacillus albertensis BY-05, an acidophilic sulfur-oxidizing bacterium, were investigated. The results indicate that both surfactants can enhance the growth and sulfur-oxidizing activities of A. albertensis BY-05 only at some special concentrations, e.g., 10−4–10−8 g/L for NaIBX and lower than 10−8 g/L for Tween-80, but were inhibited and even harmful at higher concentrations. Both surfactants can not be metabolized by A. albertensis BY-05. The contact between the bacteria and the sulfur particles may be dependent upon both the extracellular substance and the surfactants, both of which provide the amphiphilic environment improving the attachment for bacteria to the sulfur particles surface. These data could be significant for enlarging the applications of both A. albertensis BY-05 and some typical surfactants for industrial bioleaching of sulfides minerals.

Sulfur activation-related extracellular proteins of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans

Abstract The fractions of the extracellular proteins of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans grown on two different energy substrates, elemental sulfur and ferrous sulfate, were selectively prepared with hot water treatment and distinctly shown by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Some protein spots with apparently higher abundance in sulfur energy substrate than in ferrous sulfate energy substrate were identified by using MALDI-TOF/TOF. Based on peptide mass fingerprints and bioinformatical analysis, the extracellular proteins were classified according to their functions as conjugal transfer protein, pilin, vacJ lipoprotein, polysaccharide deacetylase family protein, Ser/Thr protein phosphatase family protein and hypothetical proteins. Several extracellular proteins were found abundant in thiol groups and with CXXC functional motif, these proteins may be directly involved in the sulfur activation by use of their thiol group (Pr-SH) to bond the elemental sulfur.

A novel acidophilic, thermophilic iron and sulfur-oxidizing archaeon isolated from a hot spring of tengchong, yunnan, China

A novel thermoacidophilic iron and sulfur-oxidizing archaeon, strain YN25, was isolated from an in situ enriched acid hot spring sample collected in Yunnan, China. Cells were irregular cocci, about 0.9-1.02 µm×1.0-1.31 µm in the medium containing elemental sulfur and 1.5-2.22 µm×1.8-2.54 µm in ferrous sulfate medium. The ranges of growth and pH were 50-85 (optimum 65) and pH 1.0-6.0 (optimum 1.5-2.5). The acidophile was able to grow heterotrophically on several organic substrates, including various monosaccharides, alcohols and amino acids, though the growth on single substrate required yeast extract as growth factor. Growth occurred under aerobic conditions or via anaerobic respiration using elemental sulfur as terminal electron acceptor. Results of morphology, physiology, fatty acid analysis and analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequence indicated that the strain YN25 should be grouped in the species Acidianus manzaensis. Bioleaching experiments indicated that this strain had excellent leaching capacity, with a copper yielding ratio up to 79.16% in 24 d. The type strain YN25 was deposited in China Center for Type Culture Collection (=CCTCCZNDX0050).

A new strain Leptospirillum ferriphilum YTW315 for bioleaching of metal sulfides ores

Abstract A new strain named YTW315 was isolated from Dexing area using the double-layer culture technique. The morphological, biochemical and physiological characteristics of YTW315 were studied. Physiological investigation indicates that the strain YTW315 is a strict (obligate) chemolithoautotroph, metabolizing ferrous iron and pyrite. The optimal growth conditions for the strain are 40 °C and pH 1.6. A phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA sequences shows that the isolate is clustered to Leptospirillum ferriphilum with 99.8% similarity to Leptospirillum ferriphilum strain Fairview and ATCC 49881. The molar fraction of DNA (G+C) of the isolate is 58.1%. The strain can tolerate high concentration of Fe(III) and As(V) (500 mmol/L and 50 mmol/L, respectively). Bioleaching experiment indicates that the strain can oxidize Fe(II) efficiently, and after 30 d, 44.56% of copper and 95.31% of iron are extracted from chalcopyrite and pyrite, respectively.

Screening and characterization of Acidiphilium sp. PJH and its role in bioleaching

Abstract A Gram-negative, facultative autotrophic bacterium strain PJH was isolated from the acidic mine drainages sampled in Dexing Mine, Jiangxi Province, China. The isolate grew in a pH range of 1.0−6.0, with pH and temperature optima of 3.5 and 40°C, respectively. Spectroscopic experiments show that strain PJH can synthesize polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB). A phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA sequences shows that the isolate belongs to the genus Acidiphilium . Strain PJH has the capability of leaching chalcopyrite. Bioleaching experiments show that it can improve the leaching rate of chalcopyrite by 10.3% when mixed with L. ferriphilium YTW315 after 35 d. Strain PJH has the potential in application to bioleach chalcopyrite with other mesophilic leaching microbes.

Differential expression of genes encoding sulfur metabolism-related periplasmic proteins of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans ATCC 23270

Abstract Reverse-transcription qualitative PCR (RT-qPCR) was used to analyze the changes in transcription levels of the sulfur metabolism-related periplasmic protein genes of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans ATCC 23270 grown on sulfur or ferrous. Seven periplasmic proteins with apparently higher abundance grown on elemental sulfur than on ferrous sulfate were identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS). Expression analysis of the corresponding genes by RT-qPCR shows that the constitutive expression of all those genes are more up-regulated grown on sulfur than those grown on ferrous (>10 folder). Study on the corresponding genes of the identified periplasmic proteins by RT-qPCR confirmed the results of two-dimensioned gel electrophoresis, indicating they may be related with sulfur metabolism in A. ferrooxidans .

The Effect of Energy Substrates on PHB Accumulation of Acidiphilium cryptum DX1-1

The effect of glucose and elemental sulfur on the growth and PHB accumulation of Acidiphilium cryptum DX1-1 was investigated. Meanwhile, the differential expressions of 19 genes related with PHB accumulation, sulfur metabolism and carbon fixed in heterotrophy, phytotrophy and mixotrophy were studied by RT-qPCR. The results showed that strain DX1-1 could accumulate PHB with sulfur as the energy substance and atmospheric CO2 as carbon resource. Glucose could improve the growth of strain DX1-1 cultured in medium with sulfur as the energy substance, and almost all the key enzyme-encoding genes related with PHB, sulfur metabolism and carbon fixed were basically up-regulated. PHB polymerase (Arcy_3030), ribulose-bisphosphate carboxylase (Acry_0825), ribulose-phosphate-epimerase (Acry_0022), and cysteine synthase A (Acry_2560) played important role in PHB accumulation, the modified expression of which could influence the PHB yield. With CO2 as carbon resource, the main initial substance of PHB accumulation for strain DX1-1 was acetyl-CoA, instead of acetate with the glucose as the carbon resource. Because of accumulating PHB by fixed atmospheric CO2 while independent of light, A. cryptum DX1-1 may have specifically potential in production of PHB.