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Investigation of iron-containing products from natural and laboratory cultivated Sphaerotilus-Leptothrix bacteria

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Abstract

Bacterial biomass collected from sheath-forming bacteria of the genera Sphaerotilus and Leptothrix was collected from a high-mountain natural stream water source. The elemental constitution and oxide phases of the products after selective cultivation of the bacteria on two different elective media using neutron activation analysis (NAA), electron microscopy (SEM, TEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were studied. A high enrichment level of iron was revealed by the NAA technique in cultivated isolates as compared to the reference sample from nature. Three types of iron oxide compounds were established after cultivation in Adler’s medium: lepidocrocite (γ-FeOOH), magnetite (Fe3O4), and goethite (α-FeOOH). The cultivation in the Isolation medium yielded a single phase, that of goethite, excluding one sample with a distinguishable amount of lepidocrocite. XRD and EM investigations show that the biogenic oxides are nanosized. Our study exemplifies the possibilities of the biotechnology approach for obtaining, under artificial conditions, large quantities of iron-containing by-products that could be of further used in appropriate nano- and biotechnologies.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Bulgarian National Science Fund under project DID02/38/2009. The partial financial support through the HAS (RISSPO) – BAS (INRNE) bilateral agreement for collaboration 2013/2015 and the EU-FP7 NMI3 project is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Biology, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, 8 Dragan Tsankov Blvd, 1164, Sofia, Bulgaria

    R. Angelova, V. Groudeva & M. Iliev

  2. Institute of Electronics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 72 Tzarigradsko Chaussee Blvd, 1784, Sofia, Bulgaria

    L. Slavov & I. Nedkov

  3. Centre for Energy Research, Research Reactor, Hungarian Academy of Science, H-1525 Budapest 114, POB 49, Budapest, Hungary 3

    I. Sziklai-László

  4. Institute for Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energy, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 1784, Sofia, Bulgaria

    K. Krezhov

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  1. R. Angelova
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  2. V. Groudeva
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  3. L. Slavov
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  4. M. Iliev
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  5. I. Nedkov
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  6. I. Sziklai-László
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  7. K. Krezhov
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Correspondence to R. Angelova.

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Angelova, R., Groudeva, V., Slavov, L. et al. Investigation of iron-containing products from natural and laboratory cultivated Sphaerotilus-Leptothrix bacteria. J Biol Phys 41, 367–375 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10867-015-9384-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10867-015-9384-1

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