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Updated: Feb 25, 2026
Bioprospecting of Extremophilic Microorganisms to Address Environmental Pollution
Published on: December 30, 2021
Evolution of copper arsenate resistance for enhanced enargite bioleaching using the extreme thermoacidophile
Chenbing Ai1,2, Samuel McCarthy2, Yuting Liang1,2
1School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, People's Republic of China.
Abstract:
Adaptive laboratory evolution (ALE) was employed to isolate arsenate and copper cross-resistant strains, from the copper-resistant M. sedula CuR1. The evolved strains, M. sedula ARS50-1 and M. sedula ARS50-2, contained 12 and 13 additional mutations, respectively, relative to M. sedula CuR1. Bioleaching capacity of a defined consortium (consisting of a naturally occurring strain and a genetically engineered copper sensitive strain) was increased by introduction of M. sedula ARS50-2, with 5.31 and 26.29% more copper recovered from enargite at a pulp density (PD) of 1 and 3% (w/v), respectively. M. sedula ARS50-2 arose as the predominant species and modulated the proportions of the other two strains after it had been introduced. Collectively, the higher Cu2+ resistance trait of M. sedula ARS50-2 resulted in a modulated microbial community structure, and consolidating enargite bioleaching especially at elevated PD.
