ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Extreme Microbiology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1592588
This article is part of the Research TopicApplication of Extremophilic Microorganisms in BiohydrometallurgyView all articles
QS molecules change the planktonic/mineral subpopulations distribution of moderately thermophilic leaching bacteria in pyrite and decrease leaching in chalcopyrite
Provisionally accepted
- 1Biofilm Centre, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Essen, Chile
- 2Linnaeus University, Växjö, Kronoberg, Sweden
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Biomining is a sustainable alternative to conventional mineral processing that uses acidophilic microorganisms to catalyze the extraction of valuable metals from sulfide minerals. Mixed microbial consortia composed of moderate thermophiles such as Sulfobacillus and some Leptospirillum species improve metal extraction efficiency at higher temperatures compared to pure cultures of mesophiles. However, quorum sensing (QS), which regulates microbial interactions and likely influences bioleaching performance, has not been studied in these species. In this study, treatment of a moderately thermophilic biomining consortium with QS compounds, termed diffusible signal factors (DSF), reduced pyrite and chalcopyrite dissolution via an inhibitory effect on iron oxidation and mineral colonization by the mixed culture. Furthermore, QS molecules changed the distribution of planktonic/mineral subpopulations of the acidophilic species. In addition, DSF compounds induced Acidithiobacillus caldus motility and dispersion from pyrite with a concomitant expansion of L. ferriphilum on the mineral surface while in contrast, the acyl-homoserine lactone mediated QS system repressed L. ferriphilum motility. Moreover, the addition of QS molecules induced a second response related to the detrimental effect of high concentrations of fatty acids on cells, with an activation of detoxification mechanisms. Overall, QS regulated key target microbial interactions that opens the possibility to improve chalcopyrite bioleaching in the studied consortia
Keywords: Quorum Sensing, bioleaching, Moderately thermophilic bacteria, metal sulfides, Transcriptomics
Received: 12 Mar 2025; Accepted: 22 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Salas, Bellenberg, Nilsson, López-Tomasovic, Dopson and Vera. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Mario A. Vera, Biofilm Centre, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, 45141, Essen, Chile
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