← Back to Communities

Cyprus Copper Sulphide Bioleaching Consortium

Community ID CommunityMech:000217
Ecological State ENGINEERED
Environment copper bioleaching column laboratory enrichment
ENVO:01001405

An acidophilic copper bioleaching consortium established from a copper bioleaching column in Cyprus on chalcopyrite (CuFeS2) and sub-cultured to chalcocite (Cu2S) to test how mineral type and surface chemistry shape community composition. Genome-resolved metagenomics after 4 and 8 weeks of cultivation identified dominant members including Acidithiobacillus species and strains, a Rhodospirilales, Leptospirillum ferrodiazotrophum, and Thermoplasmatales archaea, with abundance trends linked to mineralogy and to surface-attached versus planktonic lifestyles. Many bacteria carried plasmids encoding metal resistance, sulphur metabolism, and CRISPR-Cas loci, with evidence of intra-plasmid competition via CRISPR spacers on an Acidithiobacillus plasmid targeting plasmid-borne conjugal transfer genes.

Taxonomy

Taxon Ontology ID Functional Roles Abundance
Acidithiobacillus species NCBITaxon:119977
PRIMARY_DEGRADER
DOMINANT
  • PMID:41381092 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "Acidithiobacillus species and strains, a Rhodospirilales, Leptospirillum ferrodiazotrophum and Thermoplasmatales archaea dominated all enrichments"
Leptospirillum ferrodiazotrophum NCBITaxon:412449
PRIMARY_DEGRADER
ABUNDANT
  • PMID:41381092 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "Leptospirillum ferrodiazotrophum"
Rhodospirillales bacterium NCBITaxon:204441 ABUNDANT
Thermoplasmatales archaea NCBITaxon:51571 ABUNDANT

Ecological Interactions

Ecological interaction network for Cyprus Copper Sulphide Bioleaching Consortium Bipartite graph where circle nodes represent taxa and colored rectangles represent ecological interactions (cross-feeding, mutualism, syntrophy, competition, commensalism).
Taxon
Cross-feeding
Mutualism
Syntrophy
Competition
Commensalism
Niche partitioning
Colonization facilitation
Strain competition
Predation

Mineral-Type-Dependent Community Composition

NICHE_PARTITIONING

Evidence

  • PMID:41381092 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "trends in abundance patterns were observed with mineralogy and surface-attached versus planktonic conditions"

Plasmid-Borne Metal Resistance and Sulphur Metabolism

COMMENSALISM

Evidence

  • PMID:41381092 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "encoded metal resistance pathways, sulphur metabolic capacities and CRISPR-Cas loci"

Intra-Plasmid CRISPR Competition

COMPETITION

Evidence

  • PMID:41381092 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "CRISPR spacers on an Acidithiobacillus plasmid targeted plasmid-borne conjugal transfer genes found in the same genus, likely belonging to another plasmid, evidence of intra-plasmid competition"

External Resources

Name Repository Resource ID
Primary publication for the Cyprus Cu sulphide bioleaching consortium
PubMed record for the Lane et al. 2025 Environmental Microbiology Reports paper. 		OTHER PMID:41381092
  • PMID:41381092 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "Bioleaching Microbial Community Metabolism and Composition Driven by Copper Sulphide Mineral Type"
DOI landing page
DOI link to the Environmental Microbiology Reports paper. 		OTHER doi:10.1111/1758-2229.70261

Environmental Factors

Factor Value Unit
Mineral substrate chalcopyrite (CuFeS2) and chalcocite (Cu2S) N/A
  • PMID:41381092 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "chalcopyrite (CuFeS2) and chalcocite (Cu2S) ores"
Cultivation time points 4 and 8 weeks N/A
  • PMID:41381092 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "after 4 and 8 weeks of cultivation"