Bioprospecting for and the applications of halophilic acidophiles in bioleaching operations
Melissa K. Corbett A and Elizabeth L. J. Watkin B *A Curtin Medical School, Curtin University, Kent Street, GPO Box U1987, Perth, WA 6845, Australia.
B School of Science, Edith Cowan University, 270 Joondalup Drive, Joondalup, WA 6027, Australia.
Dr Melissa Corbett is a Senior Lecturer at the Curtin University Medical School. As a teaching and research academic, she has been working in the field of bioleaching for 15 years, focussing on the solubilisation of phosphates ores for the recovery of rare earth elements, as well as bioprospecting for salt tolerant microorganisms. Alongside conducting research and supervising Honours and PhD students, she lectures undergraduate students in the field of microbiology and genetics. She has broad experience in environmental, medical and molecular microbiology. |
Elizabeth Watkin is Associate Dean (Science and Mathematics) and Professor of Environmental Microbiology in the School of Science, at Edith Cowan University. She has over 20 years of experience in the field of microbial ecology of environmental systems and covers the fields of mining biotechnology, mineral resource recovery and microbial fouling of water (particularly within mining systems). Her research team investigates biotechnological processes for environmental and industrial applications and approaches to mitigate microbially caused problems such as biocorrosion, biofouling and bioclogging. Prior to 2005, her main area of research was symbiotic nitrogen fixing bacteria in both agricultural and native legume species. She maintains a minor research interest in this area. |
Microbiology Australia 44(1) 45-48 https://doi.org/10.1071/MA23011
Submitted: 23 January 2023 Accepted: 5 February 2023 Published: 22 February 2023
© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of the ASM. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)
Abstract
The economic recovery of metals from sulfide ores has become a topic of increasing interest due to the escalating demand for critical minerals and the reducing grade of available ores. Bioleaching is the use of acidophilic iron and sulfur-oxidising microorganisms to facilitate the extraction of base metals from primary sulfide ores and tailings. One significant issue limiting the use of bioleaching is the availability of freshwater due to the sensitivity of these microbes to chloride. The use of saline tolerant acidophilic iron- and-sulfur oxidising microorganisms will go a long way to addressing this issue. There are three possible means of sourcing suitable microorganisms; adaptation, genetic engineering and bioprospecting, with bioprospecting showing the greatest possibilities. Bioprospecting in search of native organisms for bioleaching operations has led researchers to numerous locations around the world and the isolation of iron- and sulfur-oxidising acidophiles that are capable of tolerating high levels of salinity has been of particular interest in these investigations.
Keywords: acid saline lakes, Acidihalobacter, acidophiles, bioleaching, bioprospecting, genetic engineering, halophiles, saline drains.
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