TY - JOUR
T1 - Determinants of copper resistance in Acidithiobacillus ferrivorans ACH isolated from the Chilean altiplano
AU - Barahona, Sergio
AU - Castro-Severyn, Juan
AU - Dorador, Cristina
AU - Saavedra, Claudia
AU - Remonsellez, Francisco
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding: This work was supported by ANID (Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo de Chile). S.B. was funded by ANID Doctoral Scholarship (ANID PCHA/Doctorado Nacional 2015–21150614) and project CORFO ING2030 16EN12–71940 (Assistant Investigator). J.C.-S. was supported by Universidad Católica del Norte 2020 Postdoctoral Fellowship. C.D. was funded by FONDECYT 1181773. C.S. was funded by ECOS-ANID 170023 and Universidad Andrés Bello Núcleo DI-3–17/N.
PY - 2020/8
Y1 - 2020/8
N2 - The use of microorganisms in mining processes is a technology widely employed around the world. Leaching bacteria are characterized by having resistance mechanisms for several metals found in their acidic environments, some of which have been partially described in the Acidithiobacillus genus (mainly on ferrooxidans species). However, the response to copper has not been studied in the psychrotolerant Acidithiobacillus ferrivorans strains. Therefore, we propose to elucidate the response mechanisms of A. ferrivorans ACH to high copper concentrations (0–800 mM), describing its genetic repertoire and transcriptional regulation. Our results show that A. ferrivorans ACH can grow in up to 400 mM of copper. Moreover, we found the presence of several copper-related makers, belonging to cop and cus systems, as well as rusticyanins and periplasmatic acop protein in the genome. Interestingly, the ACH strain is the only one in which we find three copies of copB and copZ genes. Moreover, transcriptional expression showed an up-regulation response (acop, copZ, cusA, rusA, and rusB) to high copper concentrations. Finally, our results support the important role of these genes in A. ferrivorans copper stress resistance, promoting the use of the ACH strain in industrial leaching under low temperatures, which could decrease the activation times of oxidation processes and the energy costs.
AB - The use of microorganisms in mining processes is a technology widely employed around the world. Leaching bacteria are characterized by having resistance mechanisms for several metals found in their acidic environments, some of which have been partially described in the Acidithiobacillus genus (mainly on ferrooxidans species). However, the response to copper has not been studied in the psychrotolerant Acidithiobacillus ferrivorans strains. Therefore, we propose to elucidate the response mechanisms of A. ferrivorans ACH to high copper concentrations (0–800 mM), describing its genetic repertoire and transcriptional regulation. Our results show that A. ferrivorans ACH can grow in up to 400 mM of copper. Moreover, we found the presence of several copper-related makers, belonging to cop and cus systems, as well as rusticyanins and periplasmatic acop protein in the genome. Interestingly, the ACH strain is the only one in which we find three copies of copB and copZ genes. Moreover, transcriptional expression showed an up-regulation response (acop, copZ, cusA, rusA, and rusB) to high copper concentrations. Finally, our results support the important role of these genes in A. ferrivorans copper stress resistance, promoting the use of the ACH strain in industrial leaching under low temperatures, which could decrease the activation times of oxidation processes and the energy costs.
KW - A. ferrivorans ACH
KW - Bioleaching
KW - Chilean Altiplano
KW - Copper resistance
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85088564865&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/genes11080844
DO - 10.3390/genes11080844
M3 - Article
C2 - 32722087
AN - SCOPUS:85088564865
SN - 2073-4425
VL - 11
SP - 1
EP - 19
JO - Genes
JF - Genes
IS - 8
M1 - 844
ER -