Abstract
Ethidium bromide (EtBr) is a carcinogenic and mutagenic agent which is widely used in research laboratories to probe nucleic acids by gel electrophoresis. It is generally buried underground (for solid waste) or disposed of pouring it down the sink (in case of liquid waste). Soil or drain microbial community may be able to take care of such substance else it will lead to contamination of our underground resources or others through defined and undefined routes. In view of the above assumption and literature reports the present study was undertaken to isolate and evaluate bacteria for removal, by bioaccumulation and /or biotransformation, of EtBr from contaminated sources and wastes, before their disposal to the environment. Two distinct bacteria both motile BR3 and BR4 could be identified from agarose-gel-waste containing 0.5-1.0 µg/ml ethidium bromide. Both bacteria were found to grow on EtBr-NA plate (Nutrient-Agar supplemented with EtBr at a concentration of 30 µg/ml) however only BR3 isolate showed large non-fluorescent-halo zone (characteristic to degradation of EtBr) when exposed to trans-UV light. Other isolate BR4 could accumulate EtBr within the colony biomass but did not showed clear (non-fluorescent) hallow zone around it. However the bacterium is not able to utilize the EtBr as a sole carbon source.Int. J. Appl. Sci. Biotechnol. Vol 5(3): 293-301
Highlights
Ethidium bromide (EtBr) is a red color powder and water soluble fluorescent dye
Isolation and Characterization of Bacteria During initial isolation and culture purification from EtBr waste two distinct type of bacterial colony could be observed on streak plate (Fig. 2A)
Use of Motile bacteria in biodegradation plant of toxic material may be beneficial as the agitation system may not be required to mix the content rather bacteria itself can reach to the toxic source to act on
Summary
Ethidium bromide (EtBr) is a red color powder and water soluble fluorescent dye. It absorbs light in UV range (UV absorbance maxima at 210 and 285 nm) and gives bright orange fluorescence in visible range with wavelength 605 nm (Sabnis 2010). Earlier it was being used as trypanocide medicine to treat trypanosomiasis in cattle (Stevenson et al, 1995).
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