An Aspergillus aculateus strain was capable of producing agriculturally useful nanoparticles via bioremediation of iron ore tailings

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.03.049

Journal of Environmental Management

Volume 215, 1 June 2018, Pages 100-107

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.03.049 Get rights and content

Highlights

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A strain of Aspergillus aculeatus (strain T6) was collected from a mining waste site in Goa, India.
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This strain converted iron ore tailings into protein coated nanoparticles having an average size of about 15 nm.
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These nanoparticles are produced extra-cellularly and can be collected in scalable quantities.
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The biosynthesized nanoparticles enhanced plant growth as a bioavailable source of iron, using a mungbean seed model.

Abstract

Mining waste such as iron ore tailing is environmentally hazardous, encouraging researchers to develop effective bioremediation technologies. Among the microbial isolates collected from iron ore tailings, Aspergillus aculeatus (strain T6) showed good leaching efficiency and produced iron-containing nanoparticles under ambient conditions. This strain can convert iron ore tailing waste into agriculturally useful nanoparticles. Fourier-transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR analysis) established the at the particles are protein coated, with energy dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDX analysis) showing strong signals for iron. Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM analysis) showed semi-quasi spherical particles having average size of 15 ± 5 nm. These biosynthesized nanoparticles when tested for their efficacy on seed emergence activity of mungbean (Vigna radiata) seeds, and enhanced plant growth at 10 and 20 ppm.

Introduction

Iron ore tailings are abundant environmental contaminant from mining sites. World iron ore resources are estimated to be greater than 800 billion tons with more than 230 billion tons of iron (https://minerals.usgs.gov). Brazil is the largest producer of iron ore followed by China, Australia, India and Russia, with these countries in particular having mining contamination problems. About 3220 MT of iron ore was produced globally during 2014, with generation of huge amounts of mining waste. This waste is primarily stored in large impoundments known as tailing dams and is not effectively remediated.

The concentration and availability of metals in the polluted environment in and around mines and other polluting industries, along with the nature of metals and temperature, affect the microbial population living in those conditions. Some fungi are known to thrive in these stressed conditions, as they can tolerate extreme temperature, pH and metal concentrations (Baldrian, 2003; Gavrilescu, 2004; Milova-Ziakova et al., 2016). Some of these fungi have the ability to convert the metal waste material into nanoparticles, thereby neutralising their toxic effects. There are several reports on fungi being applied as bioleaching agents to dissolve metals from waste materials (Bosshard et al., 1996; Dacera and Babel, 2008; Khan et al., 2014; Madrigal-Arias et al., 2015), ores (Biswas et al., 2013; Mishra and Rhee, 2014; Mulligan et al., 2004) and minerals (Amiri et al., 2011; Anjum et al., 2010; Brisson et al., 2016; Hosseini et al., 2007). According to these studies, organic acids such as citric acid, oxalic acid and gluconic acid, exogenously produced by the fungus, can help in the leaching of metals due to their chelating or reducing abilities. This ability of microbes to tolerate high metal ion concentrations and convert this metal waste into nanoparticles, has encouraged scientists to use these microbes as eco-friendly nanofactories for the biological synthesis of nanoparticles (Duran et al., 2005; Khan et al., 2014). Some Aspergillus strains have been shown to be resistant to high metal concentrations by modifying their metabolic activities to tolerate these metals (Chakraborty et al., 2013; Kumari et al., 2015; Santhiya and Ting, 2005; Seh-Bardan et al., 2012).

Myconanomining (Fungi mediated bioleaching and conversion of bulk metallic elements/compounds into nanostructures) is considered safe and ecologically benign for the conversion of bulk inorganic (metal based) materials into nanostructured forms. The use of this myconanomining approach for bioleaching and biosynthesis of nanoparticles from tailings waste offers several advantages over other environmental biological process, such as: (i) Higher biomass production; (ii) fungal secretome contains large amounts of extracellular proteins with diverse functions; (iii) more biosorption of metallic elements/compounds at low pH; and (iv) high metal reducing activity of secretome. Here, the fungal biomass aqueous extract containing secretome is used for bioleaching from collected iron ore tailings, with the subsequent biosynthesis of nanoparticles for use as plant nutrient Fe.

In this study we isolated several new strains from contaminated iron ore tailing of mining sites and discovered a new strain of Aspergillus aculeatus (strain T6) that efficiently converts iron ore tailings into nanoparticles. These particles were then applied to a model plant growth system (mungbean seeds) and show to seed emergence activity.

Section snippets

Materials used

All chemicals used in this study were purchased from Fischer Scientific (Mumbai, India) and were of analytical grade. Potato dextrose agar, Potato dextrose broth, Mycological peptone, Agar Extra pure used were procured from HiMedia (Mumbai, India) and were sterilized by autoclaving at 120 °C for 15 min at 15 psi before use. Mungbean (Vigna radiata) seeds (Type 44 variety) was purchased locally.

Iron ore tailings collection and analysis

Iron ore tailings (brick red in color) were collected from Codli mines, Goa, India (24°35′58″N

Elemental analysis and particle size imaging of iron ore tailings

The metal content of the collected iron ore tailings was determined using AAS (Table 1) and the morphological characteristics by TEM. Iron was the most abundant metal (∼42,000 ppm), followed by aluminium (∼34,000 ppm). Our results show lower iron proportionately to other metals, compared with previous studies, although some variation with location is expected (Ilyas et al., 2013; Pappu et al., 2011).

TEM showed an aggregated crystalline structure with irregularly shaped amorphous particles with

Conclusion

In this study, bioleaching from tailings waste, using a cell-free extract of A. aculeatus strain T6, was carried out and the formation of protein capped NPs was observed. A fall in pH of cell-free extract during fermentation indicated the release of organic acids, which are at least partially responsible for the bioleaching from these wastes. The biologically synthesized NPs stabilized in solution due to the protein coating matrix. The biosynthesized NPs were investigated as a source of

Acknowledgement

We acknowledge Ms. Deeprajni for HPLC, Ms. Shikha for SEM, Mr. Ranjit and Mr. Palak for AAS and Mr. Chandrakant and Mr. Aditya for TEM analysis. Dr. Sashidhar and Ms. Richa are also acknowledged for assisting in molecular work. The PhD Scholarship provided to AB by Deakin University, Australia and infrastructure support extended by The Energy and Resources Institute, India is also acknowledged.

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Research articleAn Aspergillus aculateus strain was capable of producing agriculturally useful nanoparticles via bioremediation of iron ore tailings

Highlights

Abstract

Introduction

Section snippets

Materials used

Iron ore tailings collection and analysis

Elemental analysis and particle size imaging of iron ore tailings

Conclusion

Acknowledgement

J. Mol. Biol.

Bioresour. Technol.

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Enzyme Microb. Technol.

Hydrometallurgy

Int. Biodeterior. Biodegrad.

J. Hazard. Mater.

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PCR Protoc. Guide Methods Appl.

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OnLine J. Biol. Sci.

Method 3050B Acid Digestion of Sediments, Sludges, and Soils 1.0 Scope and Application

The effect of iron nanoparticles spraying time and concentration on wheat

Biol. Forum. Res. Trend.

Bioleaching of nickel and cobalt from lateritic chromite overburden using the culture filtrate of Aspergillus niger

Appl. Biochem. Biotechnol.

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Research article
An Aspergillus aculateus strain was capable of producing agriculturally useful nanoparticles via bioremediation of iron ore tailings