July 16, 2021
A new manuscript by Inaba, Kernan, West and Banta describing a method for the dispersion of sulfur useful for the growth of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans was published in Biotechnology and Bioengineering. In this manuscript we characterize growth of the cells on medium containing dispersed sulfur using calcium lignosulfonate and this sulfur formulation allows sulfur oxidation to occur before iron oxidation under some conditions. The medium is also compatible with antibiotics allowing liquid culture selections of plasmid transformed cells, which is inefficient in the presence of iron. This work provides a new method to control the iron and sulfur oxidation behavior of these cells.