Genes for Uranium Bioremediation in the Anaerobic Sulfate-Reducing Bacteria

The objectives of the previous grant period were designed to explore the electron transport pathway employed by the sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) for the reduction of U(VI) to U(IV). More specifically experiments were designed to determine whether U(VI) reduction by members of the genus Desulfovibrio was mediated by a unique, dedicated reductase or occurred as a fortuitous reaction with a reductase naturally involved in alternative reduction processes. In addition, the regulation of the hierarchical expression of terminal electron acceptors (reductases) in the SRB was to be examined