Understanding variability in microbial biomining and bioremediation consortia; adaptation mechanisms for multiple extremes.

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Mining is central to our global society and the push towards sustainable mineral resource development requires addressing the issues around mine waste management and widespread impacts from acid mine drainage (AMD). The key objectives of my proposed research program are to understand the variability in both the role, activity, and adaptation mechanisms of microbial species and consortia that are central to the weathering of sulfidic mine waste, particularly in colder environments. On the one had these microbes lead to the production of AMD, but if we can harness their abilities, we can apply them to extract value through biomining, or help reduce AMD through bioremediation. With an emphasis on the long established mining around Sudbury, Ontario and contrasting these with global sites or possible new mining developments in the Far North (Ring of Fire), this research program will address two major issues including the need to understand how microbial consortia adapt to different geochemical and climate conditions within mine waste materials in situ, and secondly, to understand how we can better promote or inhibit certain adaptive mechanisms when we wish to either establish particular microbial communities, or inhibit their deleterious impact (i.e. uncontrolled AMD production). The short-term research goals aim to address fundamental questions including: 1) How does the ecology/functional diversity of microbial communities vary in different mining wastes in northern environments?; 2) How do AMD microbial communities adapt to high metal loads and low pH in colder environments and do they remain active at near zero/subzero temperatures?; 3) What is the cold-active AMD community microbiome in different mine waste systems and; 4) What are their metabolic properties (target genes/enzymes) that may be used in industrial applications (bioleaching or bioremediation). Over the 5 year grant, achieving these goals will advance our understanding of how these microbes drive Fe/S biogeochemical cycles in colder climates and how they might respond to perturbations, such as changes in land use, nutrient flux, and variable water and thermal regimes, in a region that will be subject to pronounced environmental change in the coming decades. Funding for this proposal will support the training of 4 graduate and 5 undergraduate students in environmental microbiology, genomics, bioinformatics, microbial bioleaching, and remediation, thus contributing new HQP required to promote sustainable mining in Canada, and elsewhere.