Abstract
Continuous occurrence of heavy metals is a major cause of environmental pollution due to its toxic effects. At minimum concentrations, these metals are highly reactive and can gather in the food chains and food web, causing major dangers to public health concerns. Soil samples were collected from Paharang drain, Faisalabad. Cadmium tolerant bacteria were isolated and evaluated for their MIC against Cd. The isolated bacterial strain GCFSD01 showed MIC value upto 30 mM/L. The bacterial strain with the highest resistance against Cd was selected for further study. Molecular characterization of bacterial isolate GCFSD01 was performed by 16S rRNA which confirmed it as Bacillus cereus. Optimum growth conditions of bacterial strain were also evaluated. Strain GCFSD01 showed optimum growth at pH 7 and 37 °C temperature. Our result revealed that B. cereus strain GCFSD01 reduced 61.3% Cd after 48 hrs. Multiple metal tolerance and Cd reduction by B. cereus indicate its potential for further use for decontamination of polluted soil.
Highlights
Metal pollution is one of the most persistent and complex environmental issues, causing threat to the ecosystem and human health (Das et al, 2016)
Out of 25 samples, only 15 samples exhibited positive growth on medium containing Cd. 15 isolated bacteria using spread plate procedure labeled as GCFSD-01 to GCFSD-15 showed resistance to cadmium were selected for minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC)
Applications of heavy metals resistant bacterial isolates play an important roMle in the reduction of toxic metals from the environment
Summary
Metal pollution is one of the most persistent and complex environmental issues, causing threat to the ecosystem and human health (Das et al, 2016). A highly toxic, non‐biodegradable and non-essential heavy metal that is harmful even at relatively low concentrations (0.001-0.1 mg/L) to organisms and has been suggested to be human carcinogen (Wu et al, 2016). Different methods has been used to remediate Cd pollution like chemical and physical but these approaches are costly and often generate toxic secondary waste products that are harmful to the soil (Das et al, 2016). This situation amphasizes to find out eco-friendly and cost effective methods for remediation of heavy metals (Yasar et al, 2013). Among the alternatives, the use of microbes for the removal of heavy metals has gained great attention due to many advantages including cheap production, their ability to treat large area of soil and ecofriendly nature (Congeevaram et al, 2007)
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