Q109: Given below are two statements, one is labelled as Assertion... - Microbial Diversity and Ecology - Microbiology- ICAR JRF/SRF 2024 | Agrigyan

• Assertion (A): True. Acidophilic chemolithoautotrophic sulfur-oxidizing bacteria (such as Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans) play an important industrial role in the pre-combustion processing of high-sulfur coal.
• Reason (R): True. These microorganisms carry out biodesulfurization of coal by biologically oxidizing inorganic pyrite ($\text{FeS}_2$) into soluble sulfate and ferric iron according to the reaction:

Removing the pyritic sulfur prior to coal combustion prevents the formation and atmospheric emission of sulfur dioxide ($\text{SO}_2$), which causes acid rain.

• Relationship: Reason (R) provides the direct scientific rationale and mechanism for the industrial application stated in Assertion (A) (Option 1).

Correct option: (1) Both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A)