Biobenefication of Oxide Minerals from <i>Bacillus subtilis</i> Using FTIR and MALDI-TOF Techniques

Abstract

Biobeneficiation processes involving the separation of valuable minerals from ores and materials using conventional flotation and flocculation methods have been shown to be promising in recent years. There is an enormous potential to utilize microorganisms as flocculating agents, flotation collectors and/or depressants. The study involves Biobeneficiation of oxide minerals using Bacillus subtilis. Characterization of minerals (hematite, corundum, calcite and quartz) was carried out through XRD, EDAX and FTIR techniques. FTIR of minerals before and after interaction with cells, cell free extract and extracellular proteins was carried out and it has been found that there is a shift or change in the peaks of functional groups. In presence of protein adsorption, amide peaks were found and in case of polysaccharide adsorption, carboxyl peaks were found which justify the flotation and flocculation results. MALDI-TOF was carried out to confirm the molecular weights of the extracted proteins and it was found that molecular weight of proteins on interaction with minerals was higher than that of uninteracted minerals.

Proteomic profile to explain the mechanism of the Bacillus cereus-phosphate mineral interaction

“…Therefore, the type of adsorption that occurred is mainly chemical adsorption, which makes the apatite's surface more hydrophobic than the quartz's surface and, ultimately, enhances its separation. These results run in agreement with the zeta potential and the adhesion measurement and with the preceding work (Combes et al, 2006;Michelot et al, 2015;Sarvamangala et al, 2017;Selim and Rostom, 2018;Mokhtar et al, 2020). The adsorption of protein (amino acids) products of Bacillus cereus onto the apatite is responsible for the higher adsorption affinity to the apatite surface, in comparison to quartz.…”