Isolation and analysis of UV and radio-resistant bacteria from Chernobyl

Abstract

The accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power station in 1986 led to the dispersal of large amounts of a variety of radioactive materials, most importantly uranium, plutonium, 137Cs, 131I and 90Sr, over very large distances estimated to reach as far as Sweden, Norway, Turkey and possibly the USA. As a consequence, the soil on which the radioactive materials fell was contaminated and the degree of contamination varied with distance from the station, the direction and strength of the wind and the amount of atmospheric scavenging by rainfall at that time. Some of the radioactive materials have left a significant impact on mankind in the form of chromosomal aberrations including trisomy, various forms of cancers and death, whilst others are still in the ground where they will remain for a prolonged period to continue to exert their effects. Likewise, microbes living in the soil and exposed to radioactive materials may have been affected in a number of ways; some perished, and others survived due to the acquisition of advantageous mutation. Six years after the accident, soil samples contaminated with different levels of radioactivity were obtained from five regions within a 30 km radius of the nuclear power plant. From these soil samples spore-forming bacilli were isolated, quantified, identified and tested for resistance to X-rays, UVC and 4-nitroquinoline 1-oxide (4NQO). As a control, spore-forming bacilli were obtained from ‘Zeleny mys’ (an area 50 km south-east of the power station and emitting basal levels of radioactivity). A mutant of Escherichia coli hyper-resistant to a variety of DNA-damaging agents and its parent strain were also included in the study. Analysis of results reveals that a proportion of isolates of the same species from near the power station and the E. coli mutant SA236 were more resistant to X-rays, UVC and 4NQO compared with isolates from the control site and the E. coli parent strain, KL14, respectively.