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Structure analysis of bacterial community and their heavy-metal resistance determinants in the heavy-metal-contaminated soil sample

  • Section Cellular and Molecular Biology
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Abstract

In this study we performed the phylogenetic analysis of non-cultivable bacteria from anthropogenically disturbed soil using partial sequences of the 16S rRNA (16S rDNA) and the heavy-metal resistance genes. This soil sample contained high concentrations of nickel (2,109 mg/kg), cobalt (355 mg/kg) and zinc (177 mg/kg), smaller concentrations of iron (35.75 mg/kg) and copper (32.2 mg/kg), and also a trace amount of cadmium (<0.25 mg/kg). The 16S rDNA sequences from a total of 74 bacterial clones were distributed into four broad taxonomic groups, Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Gemmatimonadetes, and some of them were unidentified. Comparing our clone sequences with those from the GenBank database, only 9 clones displayed high similarity to known bacteria belongig to actinomycetes; others were identified as uncultured ones. Among clones evidently Actinobacteria predominated. Sixteen clones from soil sample carried only the nccA-like heavy-metal-resistance genes and all sequences showed too low similarity to known proteins encoded by these genes. However, our results suggested that the heavy-metal-contaminated soil is able to present very important reservoir of the new and until now unknown partly bacteria, partly heavy-metal-resistance determinants and their products. Bacteria and nccA-like genes identified in this study could represent the objects of interest as bioremediation agents because they can be potentially used in different transformation and immobilization processes.

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Abbreviations

bp:

base pair

czcA:

heavy-metal-resistance determinant

nccA:

heavy-metal-resistance determinant

PCR:

polymerase chain reaction

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Molecular Biology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 21, SK-84551, Bratislava, Slovakia

    Jana Harichová, Edita Karelová, Domenico Pangallo & Peter Ferianc

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  1. Jana Harichová
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  2. Edita Karelová
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  3. Domenico Pangallo
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  4. Peter Ferianc
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Correspondence to Peter Ferianc.

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Harichová, J., Karelová, E., Pangallo, D. et al. Structure analysis of bacterial community and their heavy-metal resistance determinants in the heavy-metal-contaminated soil sample. Biologia 67, 1038–1048 (2012). https://doi.org/10.2478/s11756-012-0123-9

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