Transformation Studies with Thiobacillus Ferrooxidans as a Prerequisite for Strain Improvement for Strategic Metals Recovery

虽然对金属的需求在增加，但金属矿石的可得性却在稳步减少。与此同时，在一些工业过程中产生了有毒的富含金属的废物，经常污染地下水和污染食物链。众所周知，像氧化亚铁硫杆菌这样的生物可以用来解毒这些废物。然而，由于缺乏对氧化亚铁杆菌的遗传和生物化学知识，我们充分利用微生物废物金属管理价值的能力受到阻碍。到目前为止，还没有关于这种有机体的遗传转化的公开程序。一个有效的转化系统将允许对氧化亚铁杆菌进行基因操作，以提高其金属回收能力。本建议旨在开发这样一个系统。具有卡那霉素抗性的质粒将作为检测氧化亚铁杆菌在各种条件下转化能力的标记物。转化系统的成功开发将为可用于从危险工业废物中回收有价值金属的生物的基因工程铺平道路。

Although the requirement for metals is increasing, the availability of metallic ore is steadily decreasing. At the same time toxic metal-rich waste occurs in several industrial processes, often polluting ground water and contaminating the food chain. It is known that organisms such as Thiobacillus ferrooxidans can be used to detoxify this waste. However, our ability to take full advantage of the value of microbial waste metal management is hampered by a lack of knowledge of the genetics and biochemistry of T. ferrooxidans. To date, there are no published procedures for the genetic transformation of this organism. An efficient transformation system will permit the genetic manipulation of T. ferrooxidans specifically to improve its metal recovery capacity. This proposal is aimed at the development of such a system. Plasmids conferring kanamycin resistance will be used as a marker to test the transforming ability of T. ferrooxidans under a variety of conditions. The successful development of a transformation system will pave the way for the genetic engineering of organisms which can be used to recover valuable metals from hazardous industrial wastes.