Diversity of 16S ribosomal DNA-defined bacterial population in acid rock drainage from Japanese pyrite mine.

Four acidophilic bacteria (YARDs1-4) were isolated from an acid rock drainage (ARD) from Yanahara mine, Okayama prefecture, Japan. The physiological and 16S rDNA sequence analyses revealed that YARD1 was closely affiliated with Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, YARD2 was an Acidiphilium-like bacterium, and YARD3 and YARD4 were sulfur-oxidizing bacteria with a relatively close relationship to A. ferrooxidans in the phylogenetic analysis. A molecular approach based on the construction of a 16S rDNA clone library was used to investigate the microbial population of the ARD. Small-subunit rRNA genes were PCR amplified, subsequently cloned and screened for variation by a restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis. A total of 284 clones were grouped into 133 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) by the RFLP analysis. Among them, an OTU showing the same RFLP pattern as those of the isolates from the ARD was not detected. The phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rDNA sequences from 10 major OTUs and their close relatives revealed that 4 OTUs containing 32.1% of the total clones were loosely affiliated with Verrucomicrobia, 2 OTUs containing 6.6% of the total clones were loosely affiliated with Chloribi, and other OTUs were affiliated with Actinobacteria, Nitrospirae, and beta-Proteobacteria.

Analysis of iron- and sulfur-oxidizing bacteria in a treatment plant of acid rock drainage from a Japanese pyrite mine by use of ribulose-1, 5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase large-subunit gene.

Iron- and sulfur-oxidizing bacteria in a treatment plant of acid rock drainage (ARD) from a pyrite mine in Yanahara, Okayama prefecture, Japan, were analyzed using the gene (cbbL) encoding the large subunit of ribulose-1, 5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RubisCO). Analyses of partial sequences of cbbL genes from Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans and Acidithiobacillus caldus strains revealed the diversity in their cbbL gene sequences. In contrast to the presence of two copies of form I cbbL genes (cbbL1 and cbbL2) in A. ferrooxidans genome, A. thiooxidans and A. caldus had a single copy of form I cbbL gene in their genomes. A phylogenetic analysis based on deduced amino acid sequences from cbbL genes detected in the ARD treatment plant and their close relatives revealed that 89% of the total clones were affiliated with A. ferrooxidans. Clones loosely affiliated with the cbbL from A. thiooxidans NB1-3 or Thiobacillus denitrificans was also detected in the treatment plant. cbbL gene sequences of iron- or sulfur-oxidizing bacteria isolated from the ARD and the ARD treatment plant were not detected in the cbbL libraries from the treatment plant, suggesting the low frequencies of isolates in the samples.