ANALYSIS OF INDIGENOUS BACTERIAL FLORA FOUND IN LEAD CONTAMINATED SOIL OF FAISALABAD AND HARVESTING ITS ABILITY FOR BIOREMEDIATION

Abstract

Some microorganisms have the ability to either degrade or remove environmental pollutants and could serve an effective role in bioremediation. Lead is a chemically inert heavy metal and if present in toxic amount in environment, can have negative health effects by becoming a part of the natural food chain. The main objective of this experiment was to identify soil micrbiota present in Pb contaminated soil of Faisalabad. WHO has reported elevated levels of lead contamination in water, and air across major cities in Pakistan. It majorly affects children aged 3-5 years and the urban population residing in major cities in Pakistan. Major source of Pb exposure in Pakistan are industrial wastes and effluents discharged directly into environment and it has toxic effects on the human nervous, renal and reproductive systems. Molecular Docking via CB dock is performed taking some bacterial proteins as receptors molecules and lead salts as ligand molecule for insilico analysis of bacterial strain involved in biosorption or biotransformation process. To identify lead tolerant bacteria, soil samples were collected from Pb contaminated sites near Faisalabad, followed by inoculation and purification of bacterial colonies in lead nitrate based culture media. UV spectrophotometry was performed and the colony showing maximum growth rate was subjected to 16s rRNA and Phylogenetic analyses. The identified bacterial species possesses considerably high lead tolerance and further analyzed for potential lead biosorption capabilities.