Alexa M. Schmitz, Brooke Pian
Biological methods are a promising route for the environmentally-friendly production of rare earth elements (REE), which are essential for sustainable energy and defense technologies. In this study, we aimed to enhance the REE-bioleaching capability of Gluconobacter oxydans by targeting key genetic mechanisms identified in previous research. The methodology involved the clean deletion of the phosphate-specific transport system gene pstS, which activated the phosphate starvation response and resulted in a more acidic biolixiviant, increasing bioleaching efficiency by up to 30%. Additionally, the knockout of pstS was coupled with the over-expression of the mgdh membrane-bound glucose dehydrogenase gene using the P112 promoter, leading to a significant reduction in biolixiviant pH by 0.39 units. Our results revealed that this engineered strain, G. oxydansΔpstS,P112:mgdh, produced a 53% increase in REE-bioleaching at a pulp density of 10% and an impressive 73% increase at a pulp density of 1%. This research illustrates the potential of systems biology-guided engineering to create high-efficiency microbial strains for the sustainable extraction of critical materials like rare earth elements.
@article{ca064873-cf26-4cf5-b7a5-70937b7f921b,
title={High efficiency rare earth element bioleaching with systems biology guided engineering of Gluconobacter oxydans},
author={Alexa M. Schmitz and Brooke Pian},
year={2025},
language={en}
}TY - JOUR TI - High efficiency rare earth element bioleaching with systems biology guided engineering of Gluconobacter oxydans AU - Alexa M. Schmitz AU - Brooke Pian PY - 2025 LA - en ER -
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