Mining with Microbes

Microorganisms are ubiquitous and play a pivotal role in the environment. They have significant impact on nutrient cycles (e.g. carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, phosphor, iron) as well as mineral solubilization and precipitation. This talk gives an overview on metal-microbe interactions which are used for industrial applications such as bioleaching, but also highlights detrimental effects such as microbial induced corrosion (MIC), biogenic sulfuric acid corrosion of concrete, acid mine drainage (AMD) and the concomitant release of toxic heavy metals into the environment. Also, some methodology to study such systems, e.g. radiotracers, positron emission tomography (PET), chromatographic methods and mass spectrometry, are presented.