The shift of microbial communities and their roles in sulfur and iron cycling in a copper ore bioleaching system.

ABSTRACT: Bioleaching has been employed commercially to recover metals from low grade ores, but the production efficiency remains to be improved due to limited understanding of the system. This study examined the shift of microbial communities and S&Fe cycling in three subsystems within a copper ore bioleaching system: leaching heap (LH), leaching solution (LS) and sediment under LS. Results showed that both LH and LS had higher relative abundance of S and Fe oxidizing bacteria, while S and Fe reducing bacteria were more abundant in the Sediment. GeoChip analysis showed a stronger functional potential for S⁰ oxidation in LH microbial communities. These findings were consistent with measured oxidation activities to S⁰ and Fe²⁺, which were highest by microbial communit

SUBMITTER: Niu J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5048113 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature