Abstract: Bioleaching technology is a new environmentally friendly hydrometallurgy technology. It was considered to be a potentially effective candidate to solve the problems of the reduction of high-grade ore and the increase of tailings pile-up. Microorganisms with ore leaching function play an important role in the bioleaching process. Microorganisms were classified into two types: autotrophic microorganisms and heterotrophic microorganisms， based on nutrient metabolism types. The optimum leaching conditions， leaching efficiency and leaching mechanism of different types of microorganisms in the bioleaching process were summarized. The autotrophic microorganisms were mainly used for leaching sulfide ore， among which Thiobacillus ferrooxidans was the most widely used， and the leaching efficiency of mixed bacteria was higher than that of single bacteria. The heterotrophic microorganisms were mainly used to leach non-sulfide ore. The functions of silicate bacteria， Providencia and fungi in leached ore were discussed. The possible breakthroughs of highly efficient leaching microorganisms for the future were put forward. They mainly include in-situ domestication and isolation of functional microorganisms， construction and application of genetic engineering microorganisms， designation and optimization of specific culture， research and application of heterotrophic microorganisms， and co-metabolism regulation of bacteria and the development of microbial agents.

Key words: Microbial leaching technology, Leaching functional microorganism, Leaching mechanism, Leaching efficiency, Hydrometallurgy