Sulfate-dependent iron oxidation by Thiobacillus ferrooxidans: characterization of a new EPR detectable electron transport component on the reducing side of rusticyanin.

Iron(II) oxidation by pH 2.5 HCl-washed cells of Thiobacillus ferrooxidans is known to be sulfate dependent. Sulfate dependence of the autooxidation of a novel component in the electron transport pathway is demonstrated.

The Exclusion of D2O from the Hydration Sphere of FeSO4{middle dot} 7H2O Oxidized by Thiobacillus ferrooxidans.

Infrared spectra demonstrate that neither FeSO(4) . 7H(2)O nor its bacterial or abiotic hydrated oxidation products incorporate deuterium in acid D(2)O solutions. Deuterium exchange occurred as bridging OD when bacterially oxidized iron was precipitated from D(2)O solutions as ferric hydroxysulfates.

Iron Oxidation and Precipitation of Ferric Hydroxysulfates by Resting Thiobacillus ferrooxidans Cells.

The oxidation of ferrous ions, in acid solution, by resting suspensions of Thiobacillus ferrooxidans produced sediments consisting of crystalline jarosites, amorphous ferric hydroxysulfates, or both. These products differed conspicuously in chemical composition and infrared spectra from precipitates formed by abiotic oxidation under similar conditions. The amorphous sediments, produced by bacterial oxidation, exhibited a distinctive fibroporous microstructure when examined by scanning electron microscopy.

Direct method for continuous determination of iron oxidation by autotrophic bacteria.

A method for direct, continuous determination of ferric ions produced in autotrophic iron oxidation, which depends upon the measurement of ferric ion absorbance at 304 nm, is described. The use of initial rates is shown to compensate for such changes in extinction during oxidation, which are due to dependence of the extinction coefficient on the ratio of complexing anions to ferric ions. A graphical method and a computer method are given for determination of absolute ferric ion concentration, at any time interval, in reaction mixtures containing Thiobacillus ferrooxidans and ferrous ions at known levels of SO(4) (2+) and hydrogen ion concentrations.