The preferential oxidation of orthorhombic sulfur during batch culture

The formation of sulfur is predicted by the current understanding of the mechanisms involved in mineral sulfide oxidation and observed in studies of the leaching products that accumulate on the surface of the mineral. Sulfur oxidising bacteria can exploit this energy source and can remove a potentially ‘rate-limiting’ diffusion barrier. In this study on the activity of sulfur oxidising bacteria cultured on mixed solid sulfur allotropes, it was observed that a heterogeneous culture preferentially oxidised the orthorhombic allotrope and no significant growth on the polymeric allotrope could be demonstrated.