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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, December 1998, p. 4990-4993, Vol. 64, No. 12
0099-2240/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

An Immunological Strategy To Monitor In Situ the Phosphate Starvation State in Thiobacillus ferrooxidans

Patricia Varela,1 Gloria Levicán,2 Francisco Rivera,2 and Carlos A. Jerez2,*

Laboratorio de Microbiología Molecular y Biotecnología, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias,2 and Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas, Facultad de Medicina,1 Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile

Received 4 May 1998/Accepted 16 September 1998

Thiobacillus ferrooxidans is one of the chemolithoautotrophic bacteria important in industrial biomining operations. During the process of ore bioleaching, the microorganisms are subjected to several stressing conditions, including the lack of some essential nutrients, which can affect the rates and yields of bioleaching. When T. ferrooxidans is starved for phosphate, the cells respond by inducing the synthesis of several proteins, some of which are outer membrane proteins of high molecular weight (70,000 to 80,000). These proteins were considered to be potential markers of the phosphate starvation state of these microorganisms. We developed a single-cell immunofluorescence assay that allowed monitoring of the phosphate starvation condition of this biomining microorganism by measuring the increased expression of the surface proteins. In the presence of low levels of arsenate (2 mM), the growth of phosphate-starved T. ferrooxidans cells was greatly inhibited compared to that of control nonstarved cells. Therefore, the determination of the phosphorus nutritional state is particularly relevant when arsenic compounds are solubilized during the bioleaching of different ores.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Las Palmeras 3425, Casilla 653, Santiago 1, Chile. Phone: 56-2-678-7376. Fax: 56-2-678-7376. E-mail: cjerez{at}machi.med.uchile.cl.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, December 1998, p. 4990-4993, Vol. 64, No. 12
0099-2240/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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