Isolation and characterization of environmental bacteria capable of extracellular biosorption of mercury.

ABSTRACT: Accumulation of toxic metals in the environment represents a public health and wildlife concern. Bacteria resistant to toxic metals constitute an attractive biomass for the development of systems to decontaminate soils, sediments, or waters. In particular, biosorption of metals within the bacterial cell wall or secreted extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) is an emerging process for the bioremediation of contaminated water. Here the isolation of bacteria from soil, effluents, and river sediments contaminated with toxic metals permitted the selection of seven bacterial isolates tolerant to mercury and associated with a mucoid phenotype indicative of the production of EPS. Inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy in conjunction with X-

SUBMITTER: Francois F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3273009 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature