Isolation and characterization of iron related bacteria

This work was designed to isolate iron related bacteria for possible identification and to test their potentiality in various mineralogical processes. Iron transforming bacteria were isolated from different rusty iron materials.Thirty four isolates were selected from a total of seventy bacterial isolates. Out of 34 isolates 5 belonged to the genus Kurthia, 6 Thiobacillus, 16 Bacillus and remaining 7 were Acidiphilium, Oscillospira, Sulfobacillus, Alicyclobacillus, Neisseria,Pseudomonas and Rahnella. The organism showed better growth in presence of iron salts like ferrous sulfate,ferric sulfate and ammonium ferric citrate. Five isolates could transform ferrous to ferric iron in different amount. These potential bacteria can be utilized for environmental management such as by removing excess iron from the water bodies and similar environments and also can be utilized for metal extraction from low grade ores.