A new strain Leptospirillum ferriphilum YTW315 for bioleaching of metal sulfides ores

A new strain named YTW315 was isolated from Dexing area using the double-layer culture technique. The morphological, biochemical and physiological characteristics of YTW315 were studied. Physiological investigation indicates that the strain YTW315 is a strict (obligate) chemolithoautotroph, metabolizing ferrous iron and pyrite. The optimal growth conditions for the strain are 40 °C and pH 1.6. A phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA sequences shows that the isolate is clustered to Leptospirillum ferriphilum with 99.8% similarity to Leptospirillum ferriphilum strain Fairview and ATCC 49881. The molar fraction of DNA (G+C) of the isolate is 58.1%. The strain can tolerate high concentration of Fe(III) and As(V) (500 mmol/L and 50 mmol/L, respectively). Bioleaching experiment indicates that the strain can oxidize Fe(II) efficiently, and after 30 d, 44.56% of copper and 95.31% of iron are extracted from chalcopyrite and pyrite, respectively.