Bioleaching of vanadium from stone coal vanadium ore by Bacillus mucilaginosus:Influencing factors and mechanism

Vanadium and its derivatives are used in various industries,including steel,metallurgy,pharmaceuticals,and aerospace engineering.Although China has massive reserves of stone coal resources,these resources have low grades.Therefore,the effective extraction and recovery of metallic vanadium from stone coal is an important way to realize the efficient resource utilization of stone coal vanadium ore.Herein,Bacillus mucilaginosus was selected as the leaching strain.The vanadium leaching rate reached 35.5%after 20 d of bioleaching under optimal operating conditions.The cumulative vanadium leaching rate in the contact group reached 35.5%,which was higher than that in the noncontact group(9.3%).The metabolites of B.mucilaginosus,such as oxalic,tartaric,citric,and malic acids,dominated in bioleaching,accounting for 73.8%of the vanadium leaching rate.Interestingly,during leaching,the presence of stone coal stimulated the expression of carbonic anhydrase in bacterial cells,and enzyme activity increased by 1.335-1.905 U.Enzyme activity positively promoted the production of metabolite organic acids,and total organic acid content increased by 39.31 mg·L^(-1),resulting in a reduction of 2.51 in the pH of the leaching system with stone coal.This effect favored the leaching of vanadium from stone coal.Atomic force microscopy illustrated that bacterial leaching exacerbated corrosion on the surface of stone coal beyond 10 nm.Our study provides a clear and promising strategy for exploring the bioleaching mechanism from the perspective of microbial enzyme activity and metabolites.

Bioleaching and biosorption behavior of vanadium-bearing stone coal by Bacillus mucilaginosus

The recovery of vanadium(V)from stone coal by bioleaching is a promising method.The bioleaching experiments and the biosorption experiments were carried out,aiming to explore the adsorption characteristics of Bacillus mucilaginosus(B.mucilaginosus)on the surface of vanadium-bearing stone coal,and the related mechanisms have been investigated.After bioleaching at 30℃ for 28 d,the cumulative leaching rate of V reached 60.2%.The biosorption of B.mucilaginosus on stone coal was affected by many factors.When the pH value of leaching system is 5.0,strong electrostatic attraction between bacteria and stone coal promoted biosorption.Bacteria in the logarithmic growth phase had mature and excellent biosorption properties.The initial bacterial concentration of 3.5×10^(8) CFU/mL was conducive to adhesion,with 38.9%adsorption rate and 3.6×10^(7) CFU/g adsorption quantity.The adsorption of B.mucilaginosus on the stone coal conformed to the Freundlich model and the pseudo-second-order kinetic model.Bacterial surface carried functional groups(-CH_(2),-CH_(3),-NH_(2),etc.),which were highly correlated with the adsorption behavior.In addition,biosorption changed the surface properties of stone coal,resulting in the isoelectric point(IEP)approaching the bacteria.The results could provide an effective reference for the adsorption laws of bacteria on minerals.

Ability of Bacillus mucilaginosus GY03 Strain to Adsorb Chromium Ions

A research with Bacillus mucilaginosus cultured in nitrogen-free medium for forming a flocculant material to adsorb Cr+6 was conducted to determine the effects of different pH, volume, treatment time, and chromium (VI) concentrations on chromium (VI) adsorption by microbial flocculant (MBF), which was produced from the B. mucilaginosus GY03 strain. The results showed that MBF had outstanding flocculation on chromium (VI). Based on the results of a oneway experiment and actual wastewater treatment conditions, the optimum conditions, obtained by using orthogonal experiments, for chromium (VI) adsorption by MBF were: Cr6+ solution pH of 9, flocculant material volume of 15 mL, treatment time of 12 h and chromium ion concentration of 30 mg L-1. The results demonstrated that the MBF produced from GY03 could be used in the chromium-containing wastewater treatment. Meanwhile, after extraction and analysis of the MBF polysaccharides, it was found that MBF was mainly composed of glycoprotein. Analysis on constituents of monosaccharide showed that polysaccharides of B. mucilaginosus were composed of rhamnose, glucose etc. Thus, because it was applied over a wide range of pH, in small amounts and had a rapid flocculation speed the flocculant used in this experiment had a vast field of application potential.

Interactions between Bacillus mucilaginosus and silicate minerals(weathered adamellite and feldspar):Weathering rate,products,and reaction mechanisms

Bacillus mucilaginosus is a common soil bacterium,and usually used as a model bacterium in studying microbe-mineral interactions.Several reaction mechanisms of B.mucilaginosus weathering silicate minerals were proposed.However,the molecule mechanisms and detailed processes were still unclear.In this paper,bacterium-mineral interactions were studied in terms of variations in pH value over the experimental period,variations in mineral composition,weathering rates of silicate minerals and volatile metabolites in the culture medium,etc.,to further explore the bacterium-mineral interaction mechanisms.The results showed that B.mucilaginosus could enhance silicate mineral weathering obviously.The weathering rates were quite different for various kinds of silicate minerals,and the weathering rate of weathered adamellite could reach 150 mg/m2/d.Although B.mucilaginosus produced little acidic substance,pH in the microenvironment of bacterium-mineral complex might be far lower than that of the circumjacent environment;a large amount of acetic acid was found in the metabolites,and was likely to play an important role as a ligand.These results appear to suggest that acidolysis and ligand degradation are the main mechanisms of B.mucilaginosus dissolving silicate minerals,the formation of bacterium-mineral complexes is the necessary condition for the bacteria weathering silicate minerals,and extracelluar polysaccharides played important roles in bacterium-mineral interaction processes by forming bacterium-mineral complexes and maintaining the spe-cial physicochemical properties of microenvironment.

Improving vanadium extraction from stone coal via combination of blank roasting and bioleaching by ARTP-mutated Bacillus mucilaginosus

In order to improve leaching efficiency of vanadium from stone coal,the combination of blank roasting and bioleaching using Bacillus mucilaginosus(B.mucilaginosus)mutants was evaluated.The atmospheric and room temperature plasma(ARTP)technique was used to generate B.mucilaginosus mutants.The results showed that a mutant B.mucilaginosus BM-50,after ARTP irradiation for 50 s,had the highest acid production.The total content of the organic acid produced by B.mucilaginosus BM-50 was nearly doubled compared with the wild strain after 2 days.After 20 days,vanadium leaching rate with B.mucilaginosus BM-50 reached 18.2%,which was improved compared with the original bacteria(15.3%).A pretreatment via blank roasting for stone coal further improved the vanadium dissolution by bioleaching,namely,68.3%vanadium was extracted,which was much higher than that without blank roasting.It is shown that bioleaching by bacterial mutants by ARTP irradiation combined with blank roasting has great potential for improving vanadium recovery from low-grade vanadium bearing stone coal.

土壤高效解钾菌的筛选鉴定及烟草栽培应用效果评价

为提高烟草对钾的利用率和烟叶含钾量,从土壤中分离筛选具有解钾作用的菌株,通过比较菌株的解钾能力得到解钾能力最强的胶质芽孢杆菌(Bacillus mucilaginosus)菌株NGW1。在盆栽试验中,菌株在烟草根际的最大定殖数量为5.33×10^(5) CFU/g,且施用该菌可显著提升烟草株高、最大叶长、最大叶宽、茎围,同时还可提高土壤缓效钾和速效钾含量。盆栽60 d时,下部烟叶最高含钾量1.57%,比CK的1.43%提高了9.80%,中上部烟叶最高含钾量1.90%,比CK的1.49%提高了27.52%。由此可见,胶质芽孢杆菌NGW1菌株能够通过定殖于烟草根际并促进烟草植株对钾元素的吸收和利用,提升烟草品质及产值。

Changes in Texture and Retorting Yield in Oil Shale During Its Bioleaching by Bacillus Mucilaginosus

Bioleaching of oil shale by Bacillus mucilaginosus was carried out in a reaction column for 13 d. The pH value of the leaching liquor decreased steadily from 7.5 to 5.5 and the free silicon dioxide concentration reached approximately 200 mg/L in it. Scanning electron microscopy（SEM） observations revealed that a mass of small particles separated from the matrix of oil shale. Energy dispersive spectrometry（EDS） analysis implied that the total content of Si,O, A1 was decreased in the particle area of the matrix. These facts indicate that the silicate was removed, leading to the structural transformation of oil shale. Comparison of the shale oil yields before and after bioleaching illustrated that approximately 10% extra shale oil was obtained. This finding suggests that the demineralisation of the oil shale by silicate bacteria improves shale oil yield.

Iron and lead ion adsorption by microbial flocculants in synthetic wastewater and their related carbonate formation

Although microbial treatments of heavy metal ions in wastewater have been studied, the removal of these metals through incorporation into carbonate minerals has rarely been reported. To investigate the removal of Fe^3＋ and Pb^2＋, two representative metals in wastewater, through the precipitation of carbonate minerals by a microbial flocculant （MBF） produced by Bacillus mucilaginosus. MBF was added to synthetic wastewater containing different Fe^3＋ and Pb^2＋ concentrations, and the extent of flocculation was analyzed. CO2 was bubbled into the mixture of MBF and Fe^3＋/Pb^2＋ to initiate the reaction. The solid substrates were analyzed via X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy. The results showed that the removal efficiency decreased and the MBF adsorption capacity for metals increased with increasing heavy metal concentration. In the system containing MBF, metals （Fe^3＋ and Pb^2＋）, and CO2, the concentrated metals adsorbed onto the MBF combined with the dissolved CO2, resulting in oversaturation of metal carbonate minerals to form iron carbonate and lead carbonates. These results may be used in designing a method in which microbes can be utilized to combine CO2 with wastewater heavy metals to form carbonates, with the aim of mitigating environmental problems.

Effects of background fertilization followed by co-application of two kinds of bacteria on soil nutrient content and rice yield in Northeast China

With the improvement of living standards,people pay more and more attention to the quality and safety of rice.Microbial agents are favored by the public because they can activate the nutrient supply in the soil,and reduce the residue and application amount of chemical fertilizers and pesticides.Based on the conventional fertilization in the field,Bacillus mucilaginosus and Aspergillus niger were applied,Bacillus mucilaginosus was inoculated at four levels in the paddy soil in the cold region of Heilongjiang Province of China.The effects of different proportions of Bacillus mucilaginosus and Aspergillus niger on the number of soil microorganisms,enzyme activity,microbial biomass,soil biochemical intensity,soil nutrient content,plant nutrient content and yield were studied,and the effects on the plant nutrient content of rice and the nutrient dynamics were discussed.The results showed that a 2.62%-21.20%higher yield of rice obtained from co-application treatments compared with that of the control-blank treatment.Furthermore,the highest yield obtained(10736±65 kg/hm^(2))suggested that the optimized values for the two bacteria applied were 120×10^(11) CFU/hm^(2) for Bacillus mucilaginosus and 15×10^(11) CFU/hm^(2) for Aspergillus niger.Bacillus mucilaginosus can decompose minerals in soil,dissolve potassium and silicon,decompose apatite and release phosphorus into soil.Aspergillus niger can transform the phosphate which cannot be absorbed by plants into soluble phosphate which can be directly absorbed by plants by producing non-volatile acids.In particular,Bacillus mucilaginosus and Aspergillus niger have synergistic effect,and their combined application effect is greater than that of two bacteria alone.Co-application promoted the release of soil soluble silicon,and then increased the silicon content of plants.At the same time,soil microorganism,microbial biomass,enzyme activity and biochemical activity all increased significantly.This study provides an effective way to reduce the amount of chemical fertilizer applied in rice production in cold regions of China.