Heterotrophic Acidophiles and Their Roles in the Bioleaching of Sulfide Minerals

Abstract

The most familiar and well-studied microorganisms indigenous to acidic mineral leaching environments are autotrophic sulfur- and iron-oxidizing bacteria such as Thiobacillus ferrooxidans, Thiobacillus thiooxidans and Leptospirillum ferrooxidans. Some photoautotrophs, such as the thermophilic rhodophyte Cyanidium caldarium, may also be present in extremely acidic environments that receive light. Other microorganisms which require pre-fixed (organic) carbon have been isolated from mineral leach dumps and acid mine drainage (AMD) waters. These heterotrophic microorganisms include eukaryotes, such as some fungi and yeasts1 and protozoa,2 as well as prokaryotic bacteria and archaea. It is somewhat paradoxical, given that heterotrophy is the most widespread form of metabolism among bacteria, that the first acidophilic heterotrophic bacterium which is indigenous and active in mineral leaching environments was isolated and characterized some 40 years after the iron/sulfur-oxidizing chemolithotroph T. ferrooxidans and 70 years after the sulfur-oxidizing acidophile T. thiooxidans.