Molecular Identification of Iron Oxidizing Bacteria Isolated from Acid Mine Drainages in Peru

Abstract

Acidophilic iron-oxidizing microorganisms are important in both environmental and biotechnological applications. These microorganisms are known to accelerate the dissolution of sulfur minerals such as pyrite (FeS2), leading to the acid mine drainage generation , a serious pollution problem, that makes these microorganisms essential to the commercial processing of minerals and sulfur. In order to answer this question, diversity of native acidophilic bacteria isolated from acid mine drainage of Peru was evaluated. The samples were collected from Yanacocha mining (3000 m.a.s.l.) located in the North of Cajamarca region, Yanamina mining (4440 m.a.s.l.) located in the middle of Huancavelica region; finally, SPCC mining (2000 m.a.s.l.) located in the South of Moquegua region. We isolated 11 strains from which three were identified asAcidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, two asAt. ferrivorans, two asAt. ferridurans,three asLeptospirillum ferrooxidansand one asAcidiphilium sp.by comparative sequencing of PCR-amplified 16S rRNA genes. Phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA genes revealed that some of the strains isolated are closely related to other already known, but there are some with similarities lower than < 95 percent. Our results provide the first study on the diversity of iron-oxidizing bacteria isolated from acid mine drainage of Peru.