Metabolism of Organic Compounds by Extremely Acidophilic, Obligately Chemolithoautotrophic Thiobacilli: a review

The extremely acidophilic, obligately chemolithoautotrophic Thiobacilli can obtain energy from the chemolithotrophic oxidation of inorganic sulfur. They have industrial applications in metal leaching, desulfurization from coal and oil, agriculture, and environmental protection. However, their inability to use organic compounds, their slow growth rate, and low cell yield have limited their further industrial uses. The construction of engineered strains with higher growth rate and improved ability to use organic compounds is important. The inhibition of growth by organic compounds, limited use of organic compounds, central metabolic pathways, and transport mechanism of the extremely acidophilic obligately chemolithoautotrophic Thiobacilli were discussed in this paper, and the progress on the genetic modification to use organic compounds was reviewed.