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Studying the toxic effect of cadmium and hexavalent chromium on microbial activity of a soil and pure microbe

A microcalorimetric method

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Abstract

Using TAM III multi-channel calorimetry combined with direct microorganism counting (bacteria, actinomycetes and fungi) under laboratory conditions, we determined the microbial population count, resistance and activity toward cadmium (Cd(II)) and hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) toxicity in soil. The thermokinetic parameters, which can represent soil microbial activity, were calculated from power-time curves of soil microbial activity obtained by microcalorimetric measurement. Simultaneous application of the two methods showed that growth rate constant (k), peak-heat output power (P max) and the number of living microorganisms decreased with increasing concentration of Cd and Cr. The accumulation of Cr on E. coli was conducted by HPLC-ICP-MS. Cr6+ accumulation by Escherichia coli was increased steadily with increasing Cr6+ concentration. The results revealed that the change in some thermo-kinetic parameters could have good corresponding relationship with metal accumulation. Our work also suggests that microcalorimetry is a fast, simple, more sensitive, on-line and in vitro method that can be easily performed to study the toxicity of different species of heavy metals on microorganism compared to other biological methods, and can combine with other analytic methods to study the interaction mechanism between environmental toxicants and microbes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology of Chinese Ministry of Education & Sino-Hungarian Joint Laboratory of Environmental Science and Health, China University of Geosciences, 430074, Wuhan, P. R. China

    J. Yao, F. Wang, L. Tian, Y. Zhou, H. L. Chen, K. Chen, N. Gai & R. S. Zhuang

  2. UFZ Centre for Environmental Research Leipzig, 04318, Leipzig, Germany

    T. Maskow

  3. Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Italian National Research Council (ISE-CNR), Area diella Ricerca, Via G. Moruzzi 1, 56124, Pisa, Italy

    B. Ceccanti

  4. Department of Chemical Technology and Environmental Chemistry, Eötvös University, 1518, Budapest, P.O. Box 32, Hungary

    G. Zaray

Authors
  1. J. Yao
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  2. F. Wang
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  3. L. Tian
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  4. Y. Zhou
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  5. H. L. Chen
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  6. K. Chen
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  7. N. Gai
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  8. R. S. Zhuang
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  9. T. Maskow
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  10. B. Ceccanti
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  11. G. Zaray
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Correspondence to J. Yao.

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Yao, J., Wang, F., Tian, L. et al. Studying the toxic effect of cadmium and hexavalent chromium on microbial activity of a soil and pure microbe. J Therm Anal Calorim 95, 517–524 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-008-9405-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-008-9405-4

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