title: Community dynamics of attached and free cells and the effects of attached cells on chalcopyrite bioleaching by Acidithiobacillus sp.
abstract: The community dynamics of attached and free cells of Acidithiobacillus sp. were investigated and compared during chalcopyrite bioleaching process. In the mixed strains system, Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans was the dominant species at the early stage while Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans owned competitive advantage from the middle stage to the end of bioprocess. Meanwhile, compared to A. ferrooxidans, more significant effects of attached cells on free biomass with A. thiooxidans were shown in either the pure or mixed strains systems. Moreover, the effects of attached cells on key chemical parameters were also studied in different adsorption-deficient systems. Consistently, the greatest reduction of key chemical ion was shown with A. thiooxidans and the loss of bioleaching efficiency was high to 50.5%. These results all demonstrated the bioleaching function of attached cells was more efficient than the free cells, especially with A. thiooxidans. These notable results would help us to further understand the chalcopyrite bioleaching.
authors.affiliation: The Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Road, Wuxi 214122, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Hailin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: The Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Road, Wuxi 214122, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Shoushuai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: The Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Road, Wuxi 214122, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xin
authors.affiliation: The Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Road, Wuxi 214122, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: bioprocessor@aliyun.com.
authors.forename: Wu
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D042763:Acidithiobacillus / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D000327:Adsorption; D001422:Bacterial Adhesion; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D018533:Biomass; D018914:Cells, Immobilized; D003300:Copper / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D059013:Microbial Consortia
chemical_list: C012819:chalcopyrite; D003300:Copper
keywords: Acidithiobacillus; Attached cells; Chalcopyrite bioleaching; Community dynamics