Abstract
Bioleaching of rare earth elements (REEs), using microorganisms such as Gluconobacter oxydans, offers a sustainable alternative to environmentally harmful thermochemical extraction, but is currently not very efficient. Here, we generate a whole-genome knockout collection of single-gene transposon disruption mutants for G. oxydans B58, to identify genes affecting the efficacy of REE bioleaching. We find 304 genes whose disruption alters the production of acidic biolixiviant. Disruption of genes underlying synthesis of the cofactor pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) and the PQQ-dependent membrane-bound glucose dehydrogenase nearly eliminates bioleaching. Disruption of phosphate-specific transport system genes enhances bioleaching by up to 18%. Our results provide a comprehensive roadmap for engineering the genome of G. oxydans to further increase its bioleaching efficiency.
Highlights
Bioleaching of rare earth elements (REEs), using microorganisms such as Gluconobacter oxydans, offers a sustainable alternative to environmentally harmful thermochemical extraction, but is currently not very efficient
Deletion of pqqF in M. extorquens completely inhibits cleavage of PqqA, while we found that disruption of tldD in G. oxydans reduces REE bioleaching by 92%
Bioleaching has the potential to revolutionize the environmental impact of REE production and dramatically increase access to these critical ingredients for sustainable energy technology
Summary
Bioleaching of rare earth elements (REEs), using microorganisms such as Gluconobacter oxydans, offers a sustainable alternative to environmentally harmful thermochemical extraction, but is currently not very efficient. 1234567890():,; Rare earth elements (REEs) are essential for the manufacturing of modern electronics[1,2,3] and sustainable energy technologies, including electric motors and wind turbine generators[4], solidstate lighting[5], battery anodes[6], high-temperature superconductors[7], and high-strength lightweight alloys[8,9] All of these applications place increasing demands on the global REE supply chain[10]. With recent advances in tools for reading and writing genomes, genetic engineering is an attractive solution for enhancing bioleaching Applying these tools to non-model microorganisms such as G. oxydans can be a significant challenge[9]. While there have been some promising advances in editing the G. oxydans genome[29,30,31,32,33,34], we do not yet know where to edit
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