title: 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 S0oxidation in LH microbial communities. These findings were consistent with measured oxidation activities to S0and Fe2+, which were highest by microbial communities from LH, lower by those from LS and lowest form Sediment. Moreover, phylogenetic molecular ecological network analysis indicated that these differences might be related to interactions among microbial taxa. Last but not the least, a conceptual model was proposed, linking the S&Fe cycling with responsible microbial populations in the bioleaching systems. Collectively, this study revealed the microbial community and functional structures in all three subsystems of the copper ore, and advanced a holistic understanding of the whole bioleaching system.
authors.affiliation: School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China.|Key laboratory of Biometallurgy, Ministry of Education, Changsha 410083, China.
authors.forename: Jiaojiao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Niu
authors.affiliation: Institute for Environmental Genomics and Department of Botany and Microbiology, University of Oklahoma, Norman 73019, USA.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.affiliation: School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China.|Key laboratory of Biometallurgy, Ministry of Education, Changsha 410083, China.
authors.forename: Yunhua
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: Institute for Environmental Genomics and Department of Botany and Microbiology, University of Oklahoma, Norman 73019, USA.
authors.forename: Zhili
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China.|Key laboratory of Biometallurgy, Ministry of Education, Changsha 410083, China.
authors.forename: Xian
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Institute for Environmental Genomics and Department of Botany and Microbiology, University of Oklahoma, Norman 73019, USA.
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Van Nostrand
authors.affiliation: School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China.|Key laboratory of Biometallurgy, Ministry of Education, Changsha 410083, China.
authors.forename: Yili
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100081, China.
authors.forename: Ye
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.affiliation: School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China.|Key laboratory of Biometallurgy, Ministry of Education, Changsha 410083, China.
authors.forename: Xueduan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China.|Key laboratory of Biometallurgy, Ministry of Education, Changsha 410083, China.
authors.forename: Huaqun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yin
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D044822:Biodiversity; D003300:Copper / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D007501:Iron / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D059013:Microbial Consortia / Q000235:genetics*; D008906:Mining; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010802:Phylogeny; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics*; D013455:Sulfur / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D013455:Sulfur; D003300:Copper; D007501:Iron