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Bioreduction of Cr(VI) by Bacillus sp. QH-1 isolated from soil under chromium-containing slag heap in high altitude area

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Abstract

A chromium-reducing strain QH-1, identified as Bacillus sp., was isolated from soil under chromium-containing slag heap in Qinghai high altitude area, China. The strain was found to resist 200 mg/L Cr(VI), and Cr(VI) negatively affects the metabolic activity of the cells, as well as the cell morphology of Bacillus sp. QH-1. The reduction efficiency of Cr(VI) at concentrations of Cr(VI) 25 mg/L, 50 mg/L, 100 mg/L and 200 mg/L were 99.48 %, 65.99 %, 23.22 % and 6.99 %, respectively, decreasing with increasing initial Cr(VI) concentration. This indicates that the toxicity of Cr(VI) increased with concentration. Energy dispersive X-ray analysis revealed that there was insoluble Cr(III) generated during Cr(VI) reduction. In order to apply strain QH-1 to remove Cr(VI) from groundwater, factors of concentration of electron donors (glucose) and temperature were investigated in a synthetic medium. The results demonstrated that glucose could promote the reduction of Cr(VI) by this strain, and the general trend of Cr(VI) reduction increased with temperature within the range of 4 to 37 °C. Cr(VI) was reduced effectively at 25 °C and 37 °C, and all of Cr(VI) was reduced after 96 h at 37 °C, while the reduction was slow at 4 °C and 15 °C, and it almost ceased after about 120 h. These results could be potentially useful for the bioremediation of Cr(VI) in groundwater.

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Acknowledgments

This project was supported jointly by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 40872157, No. 40830748), the National Program on Key Basic Research Project of China (973 Program) (No. 2010CB428802), the Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education (No.20110145110003), the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (863 Program) (2012AA062602), the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University of Ministry of Education of China (No. NCET-07-0773), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. CUGL100501) and the Critical Patented Projects in the Control and Management of the National Polluted Water Bodies (2012ZX07204-003-04).

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  1. State Lab of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, School of Environmental Studies, China University of Geosciences, WuHan, 430074, CHINA

    Fen Xu, Teng Ma, Liu Shi & Junwen Zhang

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  1. Fen Xu
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  2. Teng Ma
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  3. Liu Shi
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  4. Junwen Zhang
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Correspondence to Teng Ma.

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Xu, F., Ma, T., Shi, L. et al. Bioreduction of Cr(VI) by Bacillus sp. QH-1 isolated from soil under chromium-containing slag heap in high altitude area. Ann Microbiol 64, 1073–1080 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13213-013-0746-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13213-013-0746-2

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