These Bacteria Eat Toxic Metal, 'Poop' Gold Nuggets

DeepseekerADS

Gold Member
Mar 3, 2013
14,880
21,725
SW, VA - Bull Mountain
Detector(s) used
CTX, Excal II, EQ800, Fisher 1260X, Tesoro Royal Sabre, Tejon, Garrett ADSIII, Carrot, Stealth 920iX, Keene A52
Primary Interest:
Other
https://www.livescience.com/61804-bacteria-poops-gold.html

By Stephanie Pappas, Live Science Contributor | February 20, 2018 09:28am ET

aHR0cDovL3d3dy5saXZlc2NpZW5jZS5jb20vaW1hZ2VzL2kvMDAwLzA5OC80NDgvb3JpZ2luYWwvZ29sZC1wb29waW5nLWJh.jpg
C. metallidurans, a soil bacteria that survives toxic metal exposure by excreting gold nuggets.
Credit: American Society for Microbiology

Turning straw into gold is old hat: A bizarre species of bacteria practices a form of alchemy every time it breathes.

The soil-living, rod-shaped bacterium Cupriavidus metallidurans is famous, biologically speaking, for being able to survive massive doses of toxic metals. Now, new research reveals that special enzymes within the bacteria are responsible for changing toxic versions of gold into inert solid gold, which creates miniature gold nuggets.

"When confronted with ever more gold, some bacterial cells are completely encased with gold," study leader Dietrich Nies, a molecular microbiologist at Martin Luther University in Germany, told Live Science. At most, these gold shells are mere micrometers in size, Nies said, but they can aggregate into sand-grain-size chunks. [Extreme Life on Earth: 8 Bizarre Creatures]
Heavy-metal problems

C. metallidurans survives in soils that are full of heavy metals, which are typically toxic to biological organisms. Nies and his colleagues discovered in 2009 that the bacteria could deposit solid gold into its immediate environment, but they didn't know how.

Now, they have an answer. The bacteria are surrounded by two membranes, Nies said, with a space called the periplasm in between. They need trace amounts of copper to conduct their metabolic processes, but the copper is toxic in large doses; so the bacteria have a special enzyme called CupA that can pump excess copper from the interior of the cell into the periplasm, where it can't do any harm.

The problem arises when the bacteria encounter gold ions, which are gold molecules that have lost one or more of their electrons and are thus unstable. These ions are easily imported past both cellular membranes into the interior of the cell, where they can cause damage on their own. The ions also inhibit the CupA pump that gets rid of excess copper and, as such, can compound damage from copper ions that make their way into the cells.

Fortunately for the bacteria, they have a workaround: another enzyme called CopA. This enzyme steals electrons from the copper and gold ions, transforming them into stable metals that can't easily pass through the interior membrane of the cell.

"Once the metallic gold nanoparticles [are] formed in the periplasm, they are immobilized and less toxic," Nies said.
Pooping gold

Once the periplasm is stuffed with inert metal, the outer membrane splits and spills out the shiny nuggets, Nies said.

MTUxOTEzNzQzMA==.jpg
An image of the micrometer-sized gold nuggets created by C. metallidurans as it detoxifies itself of heavy metals. The nuggets can aggregate to the size of sand grains.
Credit: Technical University of Munich

Understanding the process is important, according to Nies and his colleagues, because the bacteria essentially transform solid gold into a highly soluble gold compound and then back again. If humans could mimic the process, it would be possible to take ore with a very low percentage of gold, transform the precious metal into a water-soluble version of itself, dissolve it from the rock and then — voila — transform it back into the shiny solid gold used in everything from jewelry to electronics. Right now, the only way to do that is to use mercury, which is very toxic.

The researchers reported their findings in January in the journal Metallomics.
 

pepperj

Gold Member
Feb 3, 2009
37,040
137,045
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
Deus, Deus 2, Minelab 3030, E-Trac,
Primary Interest:
Relic Hunting
NO SH**! Thanks for the article, it's really interesting. :goldbar:
 

against the wind

Gold Member
Jul 27, 2015
24,797
24,976
Port Allegheny, Pennsylvania
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
E-trac, Excalibur, XP Deus, & CTX 3030.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Man, I wonder if eventually those bacteria produced particles will end up in somebody's mouth as gold teeth. Yum, yum.
 

RTR

Gold Member
Nov 21, 2017
8,180
32,468
Smith Mt. Lake Va.
Detector(s) used
Teknetics Liberator
Falcon MD-20
***********
Blue Bowl
Angus MacKirk sluice
Miller Table
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Wow,interesting info.Lets grow some:)
 

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Top