We found a match
Your institution may have rights to this item. Sign in to continue.
- Title
From industrial sites to environmental applications with Cupriavidus metallidurans.
- Authors
Ludo Diels; Sandra Van Roy; Safyih Taghavi; Rob Van Houdt
- Abstract
Abstract  Cupriavidus metallidurans CH34 and related strains are adapted to metal contaminated environments. A strong resistance to environmental stressors and adaptation make it ideal strains for survival in decreasing biodiversity conditions and for bioaugmentation purposes in environmental applications. The soil bacterium C. metallidurans is able to grow chemolithoautotrophically on hydrogen and carbon dioxide allowing a strong resilience under conditions lacking organic matter. The biofilm growth on soil particles allows coping with starvation or bad conditions of pH, temperature and pollutants. Its genomic capacity of two megaplasmids encoding several heavy metal resistance operons allowed growth in heavy metal contaminated habitats. In addition its specific siderophores seem to play a role in heavy metal sequestration besides their role in the management of bioavailable iron. Efflux ATPases and RND systems pump the metal cations to the membrane surface where polysaccharides serve as heavy metal binding and nucleation sites for crystallisation of metal carbonates. These polysaccharides contribute also to flotation under specific conditions in a soil-heavy metalsâbacteria suspension mixture. An inoculated moving bed sand filter was constructed to treat heavy metal contaminated water and to remove the metals in the form of biomass mixed with metal carbonates. A membrane based contactor allowed to use the bacteria as well in a versatile wastewater treatment system and to grow homogeneously formed heavy metal carbonates. Its behaviour toward heavy metal binding and flotation was combined in a biometal sludge reactor to extract and separate heavy metals from metal contaminated soils. Finally its metal-induced heavy metal resistance allowed constructing whole cell heavy metal biosensors which, after contact with contaminated soil, waste, solids, minerals and ashes, were induced in function of the bioavailable concentration (Cd, Zn, Cu, Cr, Co, Ni, Tl, Pb and Hg) in the solids and allowed to investigate the speciation of immobilization of those metals.
- Subjects
BACILLUS biotechnology; INDUSTRIAL microbiology; EFFECT of metals on microorganisms; METALS &; the environment; BIOLOGICAL adaptation; BACTERIAL growth; OPERONS; SOIL pollution; HEAVY metals; BIOLOGICAL treatment of water
- Publication
Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, 2009, Vol 96, Issue 2, p247
- ISSN
0003-6072
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s10482-009-9361-4