A new technique to evaluate Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans growth during a bioleaching process based on DNA quantification

The potential of Acidithiobacillus (Thiobacillus) genus members, namely Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans, for bioleaching purposes is known. Specifically, previous studies have shown the potential of A. thiooxidans strain DSM 26636 used in bioleaching processes to remove metals in high-metal-content matrices. All Acidithiobacillus growth-monitoring techniques available to date, including sulfate production, commonly used, present disadvantages. Thus, the current work shows a technique based on DNA quantification to evaluate the growth of A. thiooxidans DSM 26636, which is useful even in the presence of a high-metal-content residue. This proposed methodology may represent a functional complementary tool to evaluate Acidithiobacillus growth to develop biometallurgical applications.