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Investigation of Elemental Sulfur Speciation Transformation Mediated by Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans

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Abstract

The speciation transformation of elemental sulfur mediated by the leaching bacterium Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans was investigated using an integrated approach including scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and X-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy (XANES). Our results showed that when grown on elemental sulfur powder, At. ferrooxidans ATCC23270 cells were first attached to sulfur particles and modified the surface sulfur with some amphiphilic compounds. In addition, part of the elemental sulfur powder might be converted to polysulfides. Furthermore, sulfur globules were accumulated inside the cells. XANES spectra of these cells suggested that these globules consisted of elemental sulfur bound to thiol groups of protein.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 50674101), the National Basic Research Program of China (No. 2004CB619201), and the Chinese Science Foundation for Distinguished Groups (No. 50621063). The authors are indebted to the staff at the Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility (BSRF) medium-energy beam-line station for their generous assistance. Measurements at BSRF were supported by the public user program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Biometallurgy of Ministry of Education of China, School of Minerals Processing & Bioengineering, The South Road of YueLu Mountain, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410083, China

    Huan He, Cheng-Gui Zhang, Jin-Lan Xia, An-An Peng, Yi Yang, Zhen-Yuan Nie & Guan-Zhou Qiu

  2. Geomicrobiology Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, School of Earth Sciences and Resources, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, 100083, China

    Hong-Chen Jiang

  3. Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Beijing, 100049, China

    Lei Zheng, Chen-Yan Ma & Yi-Dong Zhao

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  1. Huan He
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  3. Jin-Lan Xia
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Correspondence to Jin-Lan Xia.

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Huan He and Cheng-Gui Zhang made equal contributions to this paper.

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He, H., Zhang, CG., Xia, JL. et al. Investigation of Elemental Sulfur Speciation Transformation Mediated by Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans . Curr Microbiol 58, 300–307 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-008-9330-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-008-9330-6

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