The taxonomic and physiologic diversity of the acidophilic bacteria of the genus Thiobacillus used in ores solubilization processes

The development of biotechnological processes, based mainly on the activity of the acidophilic chemolithotrophic, proved their efficiency in recovering metals from sulphides ores and mining drains and in bioremediation of the polluted environment with residual inorganic substances, like the heavy metals ions and their compounds.Due to the influence of the physical-chemical factors on the development and the metabolic activity of the microorganism’s present in the industrial effluents, the study of these parameters was imposed for raising the efficiency of the processes of adsorption and biosolubilization of the metallic ions. A special importance for using bacteria of the genus Acidithiobacillus in the biosolubilization processes of heavy metals from acid mine tailings is represented by the resistance of these bacteria to high concentrations of metal ions.The experiments prove a strong relationship between the acidity of the medium and the behaviour of the acidophilic chemolithotrophic bacteria. The comparative analyses regarding the influence of metallic ions (Cu2+, Zn2+ and Fe2+) on the physiologic diversity of the Acidithiobacillus populations, isolated from the mining sites, demonstrated the higher resistance of these bacteria to higher concentrations of metallic ions.