Abstract
Background: Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans is a facultative anaerobe that depends on ferrous ion oxidation as well as reduced sulfur oxidation to obtain energy and is widely applied in metallurgy, environmental protection, and soil remediation. With the accumulation of experimental data, metabolic mechanisms, kinetic models, and several databases have been established. However, scattered data are not conducive to understanding A. ferrooxidans that necessitates updated information informed by systems biology.
Results: Here, we constructed a knowledgebase of iron metabolism of A. ferrooxidans (KIMAf) system by integrating public databases and reviewing the literature, including the database of bioleaching substrates (DBS), the database of bioleaching metallic ion-related proteins (MIRP), the A. ferrooxidans bioinformation database (Af-info), and the database for dynamics model of bioleaching (DDMB). The DBS and MIRP incorporate common bioleaching substrates and metal ion-related proteins. Af-info and DDMB integrate nucleotide, gene, protein, and kinetic model information. Statistical analysis was performed to elucidate the distribution of isolated A. ferrooxidans strains, evolutionary and metabolic advances, and the development of bioleaching models.
Conclusions: This comprehensive system provides researchers with a platform of available iron metabolism-related resources of A. ferrooxidans and facilitates its application.
Upon acceptance of an article by the journal, authors will be asked to transfer the copyright to Electronic Journal of Biotechnology, which is committed to maintain the electronic access to the journal and to administer a policy of fair control and ensure the widest possible dissemination of the information. The author can use the article for academic purposes, stating clearly the following: "Published in Electronic Journal of Biotechnology at DOI:10.2225/volXX-issueX-fulltext-XX".
The Copyright Transfer Agreement must be submitted as a signed scanned copy to biotec@ucv.cl. All authors must send a copy of this document.