Bioleaching is the extraction of specific metals from ores by using bacteria. The typical bioleaching strain Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans utilizes energy from the oxidation of ironand sulfur-containing minerals (Baker & Banfield, 2003) and grows around pH 2.0. As bacteria grow optimally within a specific narrow range of pH, the fluctuation of environmental acidity can bring certain disadvanta...

Colmer, Arthur R. (Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge). Relation of the iron oxidizer, Thiobacillus ferrooxidans, to thiosulfate. J. Bacteriol. 83:761-765. 1962.-A restudy has been made of Thiobacillus ferrooxidans secured from the acid drainage of some northern West Virginia coal mines. Cultures isolated from ferrous iron agar and then subcultured for 85 consecutive transfers in thiosulfa...

The aim of this investigation was to determine the efficacy of chalcopyrite bioleaching using pure cultures of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans or Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans and a mixed culture composed of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans. The experiments were carried out in shake flasks with [Fe] 4 gL 1 and S 1 gL 1 at pH 1.80, 130 rpm and 30 C. Inocula of both...

Microbial extraction of nickel from lateritic chromite overburden (COB), Sukinda by Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans has been investigated in this work. In anoxic environment, A. ferrooxidans reduced the ferric iron in goethite [Fe(O)OH] mineral of COB by using elemental sulphur as electron donor. Nickel embedded in the complex goethite matrix of COB was successfully recovered by cumulative actio...

Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans is a chemolithoautotrophic acidophile capable of obtaining energy by oxidizing ferrous iron or sulfur compounds such as metal sulfides. Some of the proteins involved in these oxidations have been described as forming part of the periplasm of this extremophile. The detailed study of the periplasmic components constitutes an important area to understand the physiolo...

Phospholipids (PLs) are the important components of cell membrane of all living organisms. The PL or the cell membrane of the bacteria are the least studied subject as it involves large quantities of material and few methods to assay. The novel study was designed to understand if the cell membrane remains same or it changes during different conditions. The bacteria, Acidithiobacillus ferrooxida...

A cluster of five genes, proposed to be involved in the formation of extracellular polysaccharide (EPS) precursors via the Leloir pathway, have been identified in the acidophilic autotroph Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans. The order of the genes is luxA-galE-galK-pgm-galM, encoding a LuxA-like protein, UDP-glucose 4-epimerase, galactokinase, phosphoglucomutase, and galactose mutarotase, respectiv...

A heterotrophic bacterium, isolated from an acidic stream in a disused pyrite mine which contained copious growths of "acid streamers," displayed characteristics which differentiated it from previously described mesophilic acidophiles. The isolate was obligately acidophilic, with a pH range of 2.0 to 4.4 and an optimum pH of 3.0. The bacterium was unable to fix carbon dioxide but oxidized ferro...

The genus Acidithiobacillus includes iron-oxidizing lithoautotrophs that thrive in acidic mine environments. Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans is a representative species and has been extensively studied for its application to the bioleaching of precious metals. In our attempts to cultivate the type strain of A. ferrooxidans (ATCC 23270(T)), repeated transfers to fresh inorganic media resulted in ...

The gene encoding a putative high-potential iron-sulfur protein (HiPIP) from the strictly acidophilic and chemolithoautotrophic Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans ATCC 33020 has been cloned and sequenced. This potential HiPIP was overproduced in the periplasm of the neutrophile and heterotroph Escherichia coli. As shown by optical and EPR spectra and by electrochemical studies, the recombinant prot...