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Characterization of heavy metal-associated bacteria from petroleum-contaminated soil and their resistogram and antibiogram analysis

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Abstract

The aim of the current study was to screen and identify heavy metal (chromium, cadmium, and lead) associated bacteria from petroleum-contaminated soil of district Muzaffarabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan to develop ecofriendly technology for contaminated soil remediation. The petroleum-contaminated soil was collected from 99 different localities of district Muzaffarabad and the detection of heavy metals via an atomic absorption spectrometer. The isolation and identification of heavy metals-associated bacteria were done via traditional and molecular methods. Resistogram and antibiogram analysis were also performed using agar well diffusion and agar disc diffusion methods. The isolated bacteria were classified into species, i.e., B. paramycoides, B. albus, B. thuringiensis, B. velezensis, B. anthracis, B. pacificus Burkholderia arboris, Burkholderia reimsis, Burkholderia aenigmatica, and Streptococcus agalactiae. All heavy metals-associated bacteria showed resistance against both high and low concentrations of chromium while sensitive towards high and low concentrations of lead in the range of 3.0 ± 0.0 mm to 13.0 ± 0.0 mm and maximum inhibition was recorded when cadmium was used. Results revealed that some bacteria showed sensitivity towards Sulphonamides, Norfloxacin, Erythromycin, and Tobramycin. It was concluded that chromium-resistant bacteria could be used as a favorable source for chromium remediation from contaminated areas and could be used as a potential microbial filter.

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Most of the data generated during this study are included in this article. However, raw data sheets are available from the corresponding as well as co-authors upon reasonable request.

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Saiqa Andleeb conceived the idea, designed the experiments, analyzed and interpreted the results, and was a major contributor to manuscript writing. Abdul Basit, Fahad Kiyani, and Anum Naseer performed all the experiments and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. Iram Liaqat helped in bioinformatics tools for phylogenetic data analysis. Shaukat Ali, Aisha Nazir, and Nasra Ashraf contributed to formal analysis, interpreted results, and manuscript review.

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Basit, A., Andleeb, S., Liaqat, I. et al. Characterization of heavy metal-associated bacteria from petroleum-contaminated soil and their resistogram and antibiogram analysis. Folia Microbiol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12223-024-01135-6

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