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Bioremediation of heavy metal–polluted environments by non-living cells from rhizobial isolates

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Abstract

Rhizosphere bacteria, for example, rhizobia, can play several roles, and one of the most important, the protection of plant roots against toxic conditions and other environmental stresses. In this work, the action of Cu2+ and Cr6+ on cell growth and EPS production of four strains of rhizobia, Rhizobium tropici (LBMP-C01), Ensifer sp. (LBMP-C02 and LBMP-C03), and Rhizobium sp. LBMP-C04, were tested. The results confirmed the strong effect of Cu2+ and Cr6+ on bacterial exopolysaccharides (EPS) synthesis, and how cells can adsorb these metals, which may be a key factor in the interactions between rhizosphere bacteria and host plants in heavy metal–contaminated soils. Here, we emphasize the importance of proving the potential of treating bacterial cells and their extracellular EPS to promote the bio-detoxification of terrestrial and aquatic systems contaminated by heavy metals in a highly sustainable, economic, and ecological way.

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Funding

The study is funded by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), Brazil (Proceeding No. 401886/2016–1) and was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brazil (CAPES)—Finance Code 001 – Postgraduate Program in Agronomy (Genetics and Plant Breeding) pertained to Unesp/FCAV.

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  1. Cristiane Moretto and Tereza Cristina Luque Castellane contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Biotecnologia Agropecuária e Ambiental, Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias E Veterinárias, UNESP - Univ Estadual Paulista, Rodovia Prof. Paulo Donato Castellane km 135, CEP, Jaboticabal, SP, 14884-900, Brazil

    Cristiane Moretto, Tereza Cristina Luque Castellane, Tatiane Fernanda Leonel, Joao Carlos Campanharo & Eliana Gertrudes de Macedo Lemos

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  1. Cristiane Moretto
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  2. Tereza Cristina Luque Castellane
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  3. Tatiane Fernanda Leonel
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  4. Joao Carlos Campanharo
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  5. Eliana Gertrudes de Macedo Lemos
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Contributions

CM: conception and design, acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation of data, and reviewed the manuscript; TCLC: conception and design, analysis and interpretation of data, wrote the manuscript, and critically reviewed manuscript; JCC and TLF: partial acquisition of data; EGML conception, design and funded the experiments.

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Correspondence to Tereza Cristina Luque Castellane.

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Moretto, C., Castellane, T.C.L., Leonel, T.F. et al. Bioremediation of heavy metal–polluted environments by non-living cells from rhizobial isolates. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 46953–46967 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-18844-5

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