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Isolation and Characterization of Four Gram-Positive Nickel-Tolerant Microorganisms from Contaminated Sediments

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Abstract

Microbial communities from riparian sediments contaminated with high levels of Ni and U were examined for metal-tolerant microorganisms. Isolation of four aerobic Ni-tolerant, Gram-positive heterotrophic bacteria indicated selection pressure from Ni. These isolates were identified as Arthrobacter oxydans NR-1, Streptomyces galbus NR-2, Streptomyces aureofaciens NR-3, and Kitasatospora cystarginea NR-4 based on partial 16S rDNA sequences. A functional gene microarray containing gene probes for functions associated with biogeochemical cycling, metal homeostasis, and organic contaminant degradation showed little overlap among the four isolates. Fifteen of the genes were detected in all four isolates with only two of these related to metal resistance, specifically to tellurium. Each of the four isolates also displayed resistance to at least one of six antibiotics tested, with resistance to kanamycin, gentamycin, and ciprofloxacin observed in at least two of the isolates. Further characterization of S. aureofaciens NR-3 and K. cystarginea NR-4 demonstrated that both isolates expressed Ni tolerance constitutively. In addition, both were able to grow in higher concentrations of Ni at pH 6 as compared with pH 7 (42.6 and 8.5 mM Ni at pH 6 and 7, respectively). Tolerance to Cd, Co, and Zn was also examined in these two isolates; a similar pH-dependent metal tolerance was observed when grown with Co and Zn. Neither isolate was tolerant to Cd. These findings suggest that Ni is exerting a selection pressure at this site for metal-resistant actinomycetes.

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Acknowledgments

We thank J. V. McArthur and A. Lindell, Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia, for performing the antibiotic resistance assays. This research was supported by grants from the EPA/DOE/NSF/ONR Joint Program on Bioremediation administered by the DOE, Office of Biological and Environmental Research (ER62696-1011950-0003828), the DOE Environmental Management Science Program (ER086845-0007743), and by Financial Assistance Award DE-FC09-96SR18546 from the DOE Office of Biological and Environmental Research, Environmental Remediation Sciences Division to the University of Georgia Research Foundation. M.N. was supported by a Medical University of South Carolina doctoral fellowship and J.V.N. was supported by a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Science to Achieve Results Graduate Fellowship and the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory Graduate Research Participation Program. The microarray experiments were supported by the DOE under the Natural and Accelerated Bioremediation Research Program of the Office of Biological and Environmental Research, Office of Science. Oak Ridge National Laboratory is managed by the University of Tennessee-Battelle LLC for the DOE under contract DE-ACo5-00OR22725.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Marine Biomedicine and Environmental Science Center, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, 29412, USA

    Joy D. Van Nostrand, Michelle T. Novak, Paul M. Bertsch & Pamela J. Morris

  2. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, 29425, USA

    Tatiana V. Khijniak

  3. Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831, USA

    Terry J. Gentry & Jizhong Z. Zhou

  4. Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, The University of Georgia, Aiken, SC, 29802, USA

    Andrew G. Sowder & Paul M. Bertsch

  5. Institute for Environmental Genomics, Department of Botany and Microbiology, The University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, 73019, USA

    Jizhong Z. Zhou

  6. Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research and Hollings Marine Laboratory, U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Charleston, SC, 29412, USA

    Pamela J. Morris

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  1. Joy D. Van Nostrand
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Correspondence to Pamela J. Morris.

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Van Nostrand, J.D., Khijniak, T.V., Gentry, T.J. et al. Isolation and Characterization of Four Gram-Positive Nickel-Tolerant Microorganisms from Contaminated Sediments. Microb Ecol 53, 670–682 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-006-9160-7

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