Genomic insights into two novel gold transforming isolates: Serratia proteamaculans & Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, isolated from gold particle resident biofilm

Bacteria and their functional genes in the metal-rich environments are valuable resources for industrial biomining applications especially precious noble metal such as gold. Therefore, resident indigenous bacteria with the ability to withstand highly acidic and hypersaline conditions can be considered finest candidates to be used for the sustainable bioprocessing of ores specially Gold (Au) ores. The proposed research work aims at isolation and molecular identification of microorganisms capable of actively solubilisation and precipitation of gold. The research work will explore morphologically and phylogenetically diverse microbial communities associated with gold grains. For this investigation, an array of traditional (isolation), molecular microbiological, high-throughput experimental (e.g., Next Generation Sequencing Technology, microarrays etc.) and bioinformatical approaches will need to be performed. High resolution microscopic analysis will be done to visualise microbial cells or biofilms on gold grains. Metagenomic and proteomics analysis of Au transforming isolates will unveil the functional genetic determinants and corresponding proteins involve in gold speciation. Moreover, this study will discover potential microorganisms from extreme environments that may harbour candidate gene for novel metabolic pathways and physiological functions for sustainable gold biomining operations.