1. Isolation and Biochemical Characterization of Arsenic resistant Bacteria from Textile Effluent Contaminated Soil of Jaipur, Rajasthan

Arsenic occurs naturally in the environment, but its uncontrolled liberation from industrial effluents has been imposing adverse effects on the environment. The continuous exposure of the soil is a matter of concern in this study. The soil consortium contains bacterial colonies that resist and adapt the metal toxicants and can in turn help in the bioremediation of such metals from the soil. This study stresses the isolation of arsenic resistant bacteria from the arsenic-contaminated soil. The Soil Sample was collected from the Sanganer area of Jaipur, Rajasthan. The soil in this area received the textile discharge from the industries located nearby. Four arsenic resistant bacteria were isolated from the sample which showed a high tolerance level towards arsenic and was able to grow in the presence of arsenic in-vitro. The Minimum inhibitory concentration was also determined for the strains against arsenite. The highest MIC was found to be 16mM of arsenite, which concludes tolerable limits of the strains. The Biochemical and Morphological characterization of the isolates was also conducted. The Four isolates also showed resistance towards various other metals like cadmium, cobalt, lead, zinc, mercury, chromium, and tin. The isolates on biochemical characterization were found to belong to the following Genus: Moraxella, Azomonas, Acetobactor and Corynebacterium. This resistance capacity of the isolates depicts their potential to bioremediate the toxicity of the arsenic in the environment.