Microbial Selenate Sorption and Reduction in Nutrient Limited Systems

Abstract

In this study, batch sorption experiments and X-ray adsorption spectroscopy (XAS) were utilized to investigate selenate sorption onto Shewanella putrefaciens 200R. Selenate sorption was studied as a function of pH (ranging from 3 to 7), ionic strength (ranging from 0.1 to 0.001 M), and initial selenate concentration (ranging from 10 to 5000 microM) in the absence of external electron donors. The results show that the extent of selenate sorption is strongly dependent on pH and ionic strength, with maximum sorption occurring at low pH (pH = 3) and low ionic strength (0.001 M NaCl) conditions. The strong dependence of Se sorption with ionic strength suggests the formation of outersphere complexes with the cell wall functional groups. Langmuir isotherm plots yielded log Kads values from 2.74 to 3.02. Desorption experiments demonstrated thatthe binding of selenate onto S. putrefaciens was not completely reversible. XANES analysis of the cells after sorption experiments revealed the presence of elemental selenium, indicating that S. putrefaciens has a capacity to reduce Se(VI) to Se(0) in the absence of external electron donors. We conclude that Se sorption onto S. putrefaciens cell walls is the result of the combination of outer-sphere complexation and cell surface reduction. This sorption process leads to a complex reservoir of bound Se which is not entirely reversible.