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Tellurite Resistance and Reduction by a Paenibacillus Sp. Isolated from Heavy Metal‐Contaminated Sediment
Author(s) -
Chien ChihChing,
Han ChuTing
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
environmental toxicology and chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1552-8618
pISSN - 0730-7268
DOI - 10.1897/08-521.1
Subject(s) - metalloid , oxyanion , bacteria , paenibacillus , strain (injury) , 16s ribosomal rna , bioremediation , metal , biology , chemistry , environmental chemistry , microbiology and biotechnology , food science , biochemistry , organic chemistry , genetics , anatomy , catalysis
Abstract A gram‐positive bacterium (designated as strain TeW) that is highly resistant to tellurite was isolated from sediment. The bacterium can grow in the presence of up to 2,000 μmol/L of potassium tellurite (K 2 TeO 3 ). Reduction of K 2 TeO 3 to tellurium was indicated by the blackening of the growth medium. No lag in growth was observed when cells unexposed to tellurite were transferred to the growth medium containing K 2 TeO 3 , indicating that resistance to tellurite was not inducible. Up to 50 and 90% of the metalloid oxyanion tellurite (Te⅔−) was removed from the medium by strain TeW during growth in nonstatic (shaking) and static (without shaking) conditions, respectively. The bacterium was identified as a Paenibacillus sp. according to its morphology, physiology, and 16S rDNA sequence homology.