Gracioso Louise Hase, Peña-Bahamonde Janire, Karolski Bruno, Borrego Bruna Bacaro, Perpetuo Elen Aquino, do Nascimento Claudio Augusto Oller, Hashiguchi Hiroki, Juliano Maria Aparecida, Robles Hernandez Francisco C, Rodrigues Debora Frigi
Environmental Research and Education Center, University of São Paulo, CEPEMA-POLI-USP, Cônego Domênico Rangoni Rd., 270 km, Cubatão-SP, Brazil.
The Interunits Graduate Program in Biotechnology, University of São Paulo, Lineu Prestes Ave., 2415. São Paulo-SP, Brazil.
Sci Adv. 2021 Apr 23;7(17). doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abd9210. Print 2021 Apr.
The chemical synthesis of monoatomic metallic copper is unfavorable and requires inert or reductive conditions and the use of toxic reagents. Here, we report the environmental extraction and conversion of CuSO ions into single-atom zero-valent copper (Cu) by a copper-resistant bacterium isolated from a copper mine in Brazil. Furthermore, the biosynthetic mechanism of Cu production is proposed via proteomics analysis. This microbial conversion is carried out naturally under aerobic conditions eliminating toxic solvents. One of the most advanced commercially available transmission electron microscopy systems on the market (NeoArm) was used to demonstrate the abundant intracellular synthesis of single-atom zero-valent copper by this bacterium. This finding shows that microbes in acid mine drainages can naturally extract metal ions, such as copper, and transform them into a valuable commodity.
单原子金属铜的化学合成并不容易，需要惰性或还原条件以及使用有毒试剂。在此，我们报告了从巴西一座铜矿分离出的一种耐铜细菌将硫酸铜离子环境提取并转化为单原子零价铜（Cu）的过程。此外，通过蛋白质组学分析提出了铜产生的生物合成机制。这种微生物转化是在有氧条件下自然进行的，无需使用有毒溶剂。使用了市场上最先进的商用透射电子显微镜系统之一（NeoArm）来证明这种细菌在细胞内大量合成单原子零价铜。这一发现表明，酸性矿山排水中的微生物可以自然提取金属离子，如铜，并将其转化为有价值的物质。
