Aerobic uranium (VI) bioprecipitation by metal‐resistant bacteria isolated from radionuclide‐ and metal‐contaminated subsurface soils
- 20 August 2007
- journal article
- Published by Wiley in Environmental Microbiology
- Vol. 9 (12), 3122-3133
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1462-2920.2007.01422.x
Abstract
Summary In this study, the immobilization of toxic uranium (U(VI)) mediated by the intrinsic phosphatase acti- vities of naturally occurring bacteria isolated from contaminated subsurface soils was examined. The phosphatase phenotypes of strains belonging to the genera, Arthrobacter, Bacillus and Rahnella, previ- ously isolated from subsurface soils at the US Depart- ment of Energy's (DOE) Oak Ridge Field Research Center (ORFRC), were determined. The ORFRC repre- sents a unique, extreme environment consisting of highly acidic soils with co-occurring heavy metals, radionuclides and high nitrate concentrations. Iso- lates exhibiting phosphatase-positive phenotypes indicative of constitutive phosphatase activity were subsequently tested in U(VI) bioprecipitation assays. When aerobically grown in synthetic groundwater (pH 5.5) amended with 10 mM glycerol-3-phosphate (G3P), phosphatase-positive Bacillus and Rahnella spp. strains Y9-2 and Y9602 liberated sufficient phos- phate to precipitate 73% and 95% of total soluble U added as 200 mM uranyl acetate respectively. In contrast, an Arthrobacter sp. X34 exhibiting a phosphatase-negative phenotype did not liberate phosphate from G3P or promote U(VI) precipitation. This study provides the first evidence of U(VI) precipi- tation via the phosphatase activity of naturally occur- ring Bacillus and Rahnella spp. isolated from the acidic subsurface at the DOE ORFRC.Keywords
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