Abstract
Radioactive wastes always contain radioactive substances and a lot of Pb compound and other heavy metals, which severely contaminate soils and groundwater. Thus, search for radiation-resistant microorganisms that are capable of sequestering Pb contaminants from the contaminated sites is urgently needed. However, very few such microorganisms have been found so far. In the present study, we discovered a novel Gram-negative bacterium from the arid Taklamakan desert, which can strongly resist both radiation and Pb2+. Phylogenetic and phenotypic analysis indicated that this bacterial strain is closely affiliated with Microvirga aerilata, and was thus referred to as Microvirga aerilata LM (=CCTCC AB 208311). We found that M. aerilata LM can effectively accumulate Pb and form intracellular precipitations. It also keeps similar ability to remove Pb2+ under radioactive stress. Our data suggest that M. aerilata LM may offer an effective and eco-friendly in situ approach to remove soluble Pb contaminants from radioactive wastes.
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Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41272257 and 41072181), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant No. 20110491233) and the Research Program for BGEG Lab Staff (Grant No. GBL11208).
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All authors declare there is no conflict of interest.
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Luo, X., Zeng, XC., He, Z. et al. Isolation and characterization of a radiation-resistant bacterium from Taklamakan Desert showing potent ability to accumulate Lead (II) and considerable potential for bioremediation of radioactive wastes. Ecotoxicology 23, 1915–1921 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-014-1325-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-014-1325-4