Microbes Meet Metals

A special issue of Metals (ISSN 2075-4701).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 July 2019) | Viewed by 14862

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Western Australia, Crawley 6009, Australia
Interests: biocorrosion; bioelectrochemistry; bioflotation; biogeochemistry; bioleaching; biomining; biooxidation; bioprecipitation; bioreduction; bioremediation; circular economy; resource recovery; waste management; wastewater treatment
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Microorganisms play an important role in the biogeochemical cycling of various metals. Metals can serve as electron donors and acceptors in energy yielding metabolism and act as co-factors in various enzymes. The capabilities of microbes to oxidise, reduce, solubilize, precipitate, sorb, and accumulate metals have been utilized for a range of biotechnical applications, such as biomining, bioremediation, wastewater treatment and nanoparticle production. These have allowed the recovery of resources from low grade ores and wastes, decreased environmental impacts from metal-containing effluents, and facilitated the generation of nano-scale metal particles for multiple application areas. For this Special Issue, we invite contributions on various aspects of microbe-metal interactions, including, but not limited to, fundamentals of biogeochemical metal cycling, biotechnical applications and ecology of metal cycling microorganisms, and microbial metal tolerance mechanisms.

Dr. Anna Kaksonen
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • bioaccumulation
  • bioflotation
  • biogeochemistry
  • biohydrometallurgy
  • bioleaching
  • biomining
  • biooxidation
  • bioprecipitation
  • biorecovery
  • bioreduction
  • bioremediation
  • biosolubilization
  • biosorption
  • metal tolerance
  • nanoparticles
  • wastewater treatment

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 14570 KiB  
Article
Microbiologically Influenced Corrosion of a Pipeline in a Petrochemical Plant
by Mahdi Kiani Khouzani, Abbas Bahrami, Afrouzossadat Hosseini-Abari, Meysam Khandouzi and Peyman Taheri
Metals 2019, 9(4), 459; https://doi.org/10.3390/met9040459 - 19 Apr 2019
Cited by 40 | Viewed by 10720
Abstract
This paper investigates a severe microbiologically influenced failure in the elbows of a buried amine pipeline in a petrochemical plant. Pipelines can experience different corrosion mechanisms, including microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC). MIC, a form of biodeterioration initiated by microorganisms, can have a devastating [...] Read more.
This paper investigates a severe microbiologically influenced failure in the elbows of a buried amine pipeline in a petrochemical plant. Pipelines can experience different corrosion mechanisms, including microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC). MIC, a form of biodeterioration initiated by microorganisms, can have a devastating impact on the reliability and lifetime of buried installations. This paper provides a systematic investigation of a severe MIC-related failure in a buried amine pipeline and includes a detailed microstructural analysis, corrosion products/biofilm analyses, and monitoring of the presence of causative microorganisms. Conclusions were drawn based on experimental data, obtained from visual observations, optical/electron microscopy, and Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS)/X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analyses. Additionally, monitoring the presence of causative microorganisms, especially sulfate-reducing bacteria which play the main role in corrosion, was performed. The results confirmed that the failure, in this case, is attributable to sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB), which is a long-known key group of microorganisms when it comes to microbial corrosion. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbes Meet Metals)
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8 pages, 1185 KiB  
Article
Biomineralization of Platinum by Escherichia coli
by Sahar S Shar, Frank Reith, Esmaeil Shahsavari, Eric M Adetutu, Yuana Nurulita, Khalid Al-hothaly, Nagalakshmi Haleyur and Andrew S. Ball
Metals 2019, 9(4), 407; https://doi.org/10.3390/met9040407 - 3 Apr 2019
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3365
Abstract
The widespread use of platinum in many industrial applications has led to its release into the environment at elevated concentrations with potential adverse effects on human and environmental health. However, the nature of interactions between mobile platinum complexes and the biotic components of [...] Read more.
The widespread use of platinum in many industrial applications has led to its release into the environment at elevated concentrations with potential adverse effects on human and environmental health. However, the nature of interactions between mobile platinum complexes and the biotic components of the environment, which are increasingly being exposed to platinum, is poorly studied. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of Pt(IV)-chloride on the growth and activity of the well-characterized bacteria Escherichia coli. Bacterial survival and viability in the presence of different concentrations of Pt(IV)-chloride were assessed in liquid culture, while platinum retention was assessed using experimentation with sand-filled columns with the residual platinum concentration measured by atomic absorption spectroscopy. Bacterial biomineralization of platinum was studied with scanning electron microscopy. The results showed that E. coli tolerated PtCl4 at concentrations of up to 10,000 µM over 21 days and remained viable after 112 days of incubation with PtCl4 at 10,000 µM in sand columns. Overall, 74 wt.% and 50 wt.% of platinum was mineralized in E. coli and blank sand columns, respectively. The results of this study confirm that E. coli is capable of biomineralizing platinum. The results confirm that the interaction of platinum with bacteria is not limited to known metal-resistant bacterial species. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbes Meet Metals)
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