Characteristics of iron- and sulfur-oxidizing microorganisms used for the recovery of metals from minerals

Acidithiobacillus sp. is extensively used worldwide for recovery of metals from minerals. Iran has mines containing different metals such as uranium. Therefore, in this study, 3 Acidithiobacillus sp. were isolated from sulfur springs of Ramsar, Iran. After sample collections, they were cultivated in liquid 9k and Starkey medium. In followings, the isolated bacteria were purified by solid media. DNA of the isolates, extracted using CinaClon DNA extraction kit and the nearly complete 16S rDNA genes of all isolated strains were amplified with the general primers of 27F and 1492R and sequenced. Alignments of 16S rDNA gene sequences were performed with the BioEdit program and analyzed with GenBank. The results showed that based on the cultivations, 3 strains were isolated on the media. Analysis of 16S rRNA genes of the 3 strains indicated that they have 99% similarity with Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans ATCC 23270, Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans ATCC 53993 and Acidithiobacillus sp. SM-2. In addition, the isolates were recorded in NCBI database called Acidithiobacillus sp. strain FJ1, Acidithiobacillus sp. strain FJ2 and Acidithiobacillus sp. strain FJ3 (accession numbers of deposits are as KP779620, KP779621 and KP763724). Finally, we isolated the native acidophilic iron and sulfur oxidizing bacteria from sulfur springs in Ramsar province, Iran. According to the gene sequence analysis, the isolates fall into the Acidithiobacillus sp.

Keywords:

Acidithiobacillus sp. , Characterization , 16S rDNA