Investigation of lead(II) uptake by Bacillus thuringiensis 016

Uranium speciation and distribution on the surface of Shewanella putrefaciens in the presence of inorganic phosphate and zero-valent iron under anaerobic conditions

Shewanella putrefaciens (S. putrefaciens) is one of the main microorganisms in soil bioreactors, which mainly immobilizes uranium through reduction and mineralization processes. However, the effects of elements such as phosphorus and ZVI, which may be present in the actual environment, on the mineralization and reduction processes are still not clearly understood and the environment is mostly in the absence of oxygen. In this study, we ensure that all experiments are performed in an anaerobic glove box, and we elucidate through a combination of macroscopic experimental findings and microscopic characterization that the presence of inorganic phosphates enhances the mineralization of uranyl ions on the surface of S. putrefaciens, while zero-valent iron (ZVI) facilitates the immobilization of uranium by promoting the reduction of uranium by S. putrefaciens. Interestingly, when inorganic phosphates and ZVI co-exist, both the mineralization and reduction of uranium on the bacterial surface are simultaneously enhanced. However, these two substances exhibit a certain degree of antagonism in terms of uranium immobilization by S. putrefaciens. Furthermore, it is found that the influence of pH on the mineralization and reduction of uranyl ions is far more significant than that of inorganic phosphates and ZVI. This study contributes to a better understanding of the environmental fate of uranium in real-world settings and provides valuable theoretical support for the bioremediation and risk assessment of uranium contamination.

Lithium extraction from typical lithium silicate ores by two bacteria with different metabolic characteristics: Experiments, mechanism and significance

Microorganisms obtain inorganic nutrients or energy from specific minerals to selectively weather minerals, but few studies on the differences in metabolic components of different functional bacteria lead to different weathering effects. This study evaluated the leaching effects of two bacteria with distinct metabolic characteristics on lithium silicate minerals with different structures. We aimed to understand the microscopic mechanism of crystal destruction of lithium silicate minerals with different structures under the action of microorganisms. The results showed that the metabolites produced by an acid producing silicate strain Raoultella sp. Z107 (strain Z107) had a high content of organic acids, among which lactic acid was up to about 11 g/L. Bacillus mucilaginosus 21,699 (strain BM) secreted capsular polysaccharide with a high content of 14.84 mg/L. The metabolic activities of the two strains were significantly different. Through the analysis of the leaching residue, it was found that the lithium silicate minerals were acid etched, interlayer domains expanded, crystallinity decreased, and metal bonds were broken under the action of bacteria. The dissolution of lithium silicate minerals by bacteria is a combination of bacterial adsorption, organic acid corrosion, and complexation of small molecular organic acids and macromolecular polymers with metal ions. The acid erosion and complexation effects of organic acids are greater than the single complexation of capsular polysaccharides, and the layered lepidolite is more likely to be decomposed by the weathering of bacterial metabolites than the chain structure spodumene. These results indicate that the diversity of metabolic activity of bacteria from different sources and the sequence and decomposition mechanism of metal ions released from minerals after lattice destruction are also different. Microorganisms decompose minerals for energy and nutrients, and eventually become the main players in the transformation of elements in biogeology.

Bioremediation of Heavy Metals by the Genus Bacillus

Environmental contamination with heavy metals is one of the major problems caused by human activity. Bioremediation is an effective and eco-friendly approach that can reduce heavy metal contamination in the environment. Bioremediation agents include bacteria of the genus Bacillus, among others. The best-described species in terms of the bioremediation potential of Bacillus spp. Are B. subtilis, B. cereus, or B. thuringiensis. This bacterial genus has several bioremediation strategies, including biosorption, extracellular polymeric substance (EPS)-mediated biosorption, bioaccumulation, or bioprecipitation. Due to the above-mentioned strategies, Bacillus spp. strains can reduce the amounts of metals such as lead, cadmium, mercury, chromium, arsenic or nickel in the environment. Moreover, strains of the genus Bacillus can also assist phytoremediation by stimulating plant growth and bioaccumulation of heavy metals in the soil. Therefore, Bacillus spp. is one of the best sustainable solutions for reducing heavy metals from various environments, especially soil.

Potentials of orally supplemented selenium-enriched Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus to mitigate the lead induced liver and intestinal tract injury

Lead is a metal that exists naturally in the Earth's crust and is a ubiquitous environmental contaminant. The alleviation of lead toxicity is important to keep human health under lead exposure. Biosynthesized selenium nanoparticle (SeNPs) and selenium-enriched Lactobacillus rhamnosus SHA113 (Se-LRS) were developed in this study, and their potentials in alleviating lead-induced injury to the liver and intestinal tract were evaluated in mice by oral administration for 4 weeks. As results, oral intake of lead acetate (150 mg/kg body weight per day) caused more than 50 times and 100 times lead accumulation in blood and the liver, respectively. Liver function was seriously damaged by the lead exposure, which is indicated as the significantly increased lipid accumulation in the liver, enhanced markers of liver function injury in serum, and occurrence of oxidative stress in liver tissues. Serious injury in intestinal tract was also found under lead exposure, as shown by the decrease of intestinal microbiota diversity and occurrence of oxidative stress. Except the lead content in blood and the liver were lowered by 52% and 58%, respectively, oral administration of Se-LRS protected all the other lead-induced injury markers to the normal level. By the comparison with the effects of normal L. rhamnosus SHA113 and the SeNPs isolated from Se-LRS, high protective effects of Se-LRS can be explained as the extremely high efficiency to promote lead excretion via feces by forming insoluble mixture. These findings illustrate the developed selenium-enriched L. rhamnosus can efficiently protect the liver and intestinal tract from injury by lead.

Rhizosphere Microbial Communities and Heavy Metals

The rhizosphere is a microhabitat where there is an intense chemical dialogue between plants and microorganisms. The two coexist and develop synergistic actions, which can promote plants’ functions and productivity, but also their capacity to respond to stress conditions, including heavy metal (HM) contamination. If HMs are present in soils used for agriculture, there is a risk of metal uptake by edible plants with subsequent bioaccumulation in humans and animals and detrimental consequences for their health. Plant productivity can also be negatively affected. Many bacteria have defensive mechanisms for resisting heavy metals and, through various complex processes, can improve plant response to HM stress. Bacteria-plant synergic interactions in the rhizosphere, as a homeostatic ecosystem response to HM disturbance, are common in soil. However, this is hard to achieve in agroecosystems managed with traditional practices, because concentrating on maximizing crop yield does not make it possible to establish rhizosphere interactions. Improving knowledge of the complex interactions mediated by plant exudates and secondary metabolites can lead to nature-based solutions for plant health in HM contaminated soils. This paper reports the main ecotoxicological effects of HMs and the various compounds (including several secondary metabolites) produced by plant-microorganism holobionts for removing, immobilizing and containing toxic elements.

Optimization and Experimental Design of the Pb2+ Adsorption Process on a Nano-Fe3O4-Based Adsorbent Using the Response Surface Methodology

Magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles have been used as adsorbents for the removal of heavy-metal ions. In this study, optimization of the Pb2+ adsorption process using Fe3O4 has been investigated. The adsorbent was characterized by various techniques such as transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis. The influence of process variables on adsorption of Pb2+ ions in accordance with p < 0.05 was investigated and analyzed by the Box-Behnken design (BBD) matrix with five variables (pH, adsorbent dose, initial Pb2+ ion concentration, contact time, and temperature). The pH and temperature were observed to be the most significant parameters that affected the Pb2+ ion adsorption capacity from the analysis of variance (ANOVA). Conduction of 46 experiments according to BBD and a subsequent analysis of variance (ANOVA) provide information in an empirical equation for the expected response. However, a quadratic correlation was established to calculate the optimum conditions, and it was found that the R 2 value (0.99) is in good agreement with adjusted R 2 (0.98). The optimum process value of variables obtained by numerical optimization corresponds to pH 6, an adsorbent dose of 10 mg, and an initial Pb2+ ion concentration of 110 mg L-1 in 40 min at 40 °C adsorption temperature. A maximum of 98.4% adsorption efficiency was achieved under optimum conditions. Furthermore, the presented model with an F value of 176.7 could adequately predict the response and give appropriate information to scale up the process.

Bioaccumulation and distribution of cadmium by Burkholderia cepacia GYP1 under oligotrophic condition and mechanism analysis at proteome level

Bacteria have been applied for the bioremediation of cadmium-contaminated environment. Less is known about the bioaccumulation of high concentration of Cd over time under the oligotrophic environment. Burkholderia cepacia GYP1, which was isolated from multiple heavy metal contaminated farmland, was studied for its bioaccumulation mechanism of Cd under oligotrophic condition. GYP1 possessed highly accumulation capacity for cadmium reaching 116 mg Cd/g biomass (dry weight). ATR-FTIR, electron microscopy, flow cytometry along with subcellular fraction demonstrated that the uptake and distribution of cadmium varied with the increased amount of cadmium of GYP1 cell during the 7-day treatment time: the accumulation of cadmium was mainly on the outer membrane at the beginning (within 1 day), and the intracellular cadmium kept increased and held stable after 2 days, after that, the increased amount of cadmium mainly located extracellularly, related to the secreted EPS. Further mechanism analysis of bioaccumulation of Cd by GYP1 based on iTRAQ-based proteomics showed that Cd(II) could trigger the up-regulation of the Cd²⁺/Zn²⁺-exporting ATPase, type VI protein secretion systems, and glutathione-S-transferase that are related to cadmium response, which may contribute to maintain the intracellular cadmium homeostasis. In summary, the immobilization of Cd(II) by B. cepacia GYP1 contains three steps:(1) fast immobilization of Cd(II) on the cell surface coordinated with functional groups, (2) transport of Cd(II) to cells and accumulation in cytoplasm, and (3) efflux of intracellular Cd(II) depended on energy and the entrapped or adsorbed of extracellular Cd(II) by EPS. Our study provided the understanding of the cadmium accumulation process of B. cepacia GYP1 under oligotrophic condition, which would be helpful in bioremediation of natural cadmium contaminated environment.

Bioimmobilization of lead by Bacillus subtilis X3 biomass isolated from lead mine soil under promotion of multiple adsorption mechanisms

In this study, a lead-resistant bacterium, Bacillus subtilis X3, was used to prepare a lead bioadsorbent for immobilization and removal of lead in lead solution. The lead shot precipitate was analysed by scanning electron microscopy combined with energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The adsorbed lead was mainly mineralized to form Pb₅(PO₄)₃OH, Pb₁₀(PO₄)₆(OH)₂ and Pb₅(PO₄)₃Cl; however, other mechanisms that can also promote the mineralization of lead should not be ignored. For example, Na⁺ and Ca²⁺ on the cell wall surface were exchanged with Pb²⁺ in solution, which confirmed that the ion-exchange process occurred before mineralization. Moreover, adsorption bridging caused by extracellular polymeric substances also accelerated the further aggregation of lead, and the biomass was encapsulated by lead gradually. Hydroxyl, carbonyl, carboxyl and amine groups were not observed in lead mineral crystals, but the complexation between lead and these groups still benefited the mineralization of lead. The valence of Pb(II) was not changed after mineralization, which indicated that the biosorption process was not a redox reaction. Finally, biosorption occurred on the outer surface of the cell, but its specific surface area was relatively small, limiting the amount and efficiency of biosorption.

Evaluation of the cytotoxicity and interaction of lead with lead resistant bacterium Acinetobacter junii Pb1

This study explores the potential of lead resistant bacterium Acinetobacter junii Pb1 for adsorption/accumulation of lead using various techniques. In the present work, growth of A. junii Pb1 was investigated in the presence of a range of Pb(II) concentrations (0, 100, 250, 500, and 1000 mg l^-1). Lead was found to have no toxic effect on the growth of A. junii Pb1 at 100 and 250 mg l^-1 concentrations. However, further increase in Pb(II) concentration (500 mg l^-1) showed increase in lag phase, though growth remained unaffected and significant growth inhibition was observed when concentration was increased to 1000 mg l^-1. Same was confirmed by the observations of flow cytometry. Further, the effect of Pb(II) on A. junii Pb1 was evaluated by using fluorescence microscopy, spectrofluorimetry, and flow cytometry. The spectrofluorimetry and fluorescence microscopy results revealed the accumulation of Pb(II) inside the bacterial cells as evident by green fluorescence due to lead binding fluorescent probe, Leadmium Green AM dye. Flow cytometry observations indicate an increase in cell size and granularity of exposure to lead. Thus, present work provides a new understanding of Pb(II) tolerance in A. junii Pb1 and its potential use in remediation of lead from contaminated soil.

Lead absorption mechanisms in bacteria as strategies for lead bioremediation

Bacteria exhibit a number of metabolism-dependent and metabolism-independent processes for the uptake and accumulation of toxic metals. The removal of these metals from environmental sources such as soil, sludge, and wastewaters using microbe-based technologies provide an alternative for their recovery and remediation. Lead (Pb) is a pervasive metal in the environment that adversely affects all living organisms. Many aspects of metal-microbe interactions remain unexploited in biotechnology and further development and application is necessary, particularly to the problem of Pb release into the environment. Thus, this review provides a synopsis of the most important bacterial phenotypes and biochemical attributes that are instrumental in lead bioremediation, along with what is known of their genetic background that can be exploited or improved through genetic engineering. This review also highlights the potential of Pb-resistant bacteria in bringing about detoxification of Pb-contaminated terrestrial and aquatic systems in a highly sustainable and environmental friendly manner, and the existing challenges that still lie in the path to in situ and large-scale bioremediation.

A critical review on speciation, mobilization and toxicity of lead in soil-microbe-plant system and bioremediation strategies

Lead accumulation in soils is of serious concern in agricultural production due to the harmful effects on soil microflora, crop growth and food safety. In soil, speciation of lead greatly affects its bioavailability and thus its toxicity on plants and microbes. Many plants and bacteria have evolved to develop detoxification mechanisms to counter the toxic effect of lead. Factors influencing the lead speciation include soil pH, organic matter, presence of various amendments, clay minerals and presence of organic colloids and iron oxides. Unlike, other metals little is known about the speciation and mobility of lead in soil. This review focuses on the speciation of lead in soil, its mobility, toxicity, uptake and detoxification mechanisms in plants and bacteria and bioremediation strategies for remediation of lead contaminated repositories.

Bacillus thuringiensis: a successful insecticide with new environmental features and tidings

Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is known as the most successful microbial insecticide against different orders of insect pests in agriculture and medicine. Moreover, Bt toxin genes also have been efficiently used to enhance resistance to insect pests in genetically modified crops. In light of the scientific advantages of new molecular biology technologies, recently, some other new potentials of Bt have been explored. These new environmental features include the toxicity against nematodes, mites, and ticks, antagonistic effects against plant and animal pathogenic bacteria and fungi, plant growth-promoting activities (PGPR), bioremediation of different heavy metals and other pollutants, biosynthesis of metal nanoparticles, production of polyhydroxyalkanoate biopolymer, and anticancer activities (due to parasporins). This review comprehensively describes recent advances in the Bt whole-genome studies, the last updated known Bt toxins and their functions, and application of cry genes in plant genetic engineering. Moreover, the review thoroughly describes the new features of Bt which make it a suitable cell factory that might be used for production of different novel valuable bioproducts.

Microbial strategy for potential lead remediation: a review study

The extensive exploitation and usage of lead compounds result in severe lead(II) pollution in water and soil environments, even in agricultural land, threatening the health of animals and humans via food chains. The recovery and remediation of lead(II) from water and soil environments have been intensively concerned in recent years. Compared with the traditional physic-chemistry treatment, microbial remediation strategy is a promising alternative to remediate lead(II)-contaminated environments due to its cost-effective and environmentally-friendly properties. Various microorganisms are capable of removing or immobilizing lead(II) from water and soil environments through bioaccumulation, precipitation or accelerated transformation of lead(II) into a very stable mineral, resulting in significant effects on lead(II) mobility and bioavailability. In the present review, we investigated a wide diversity of lead(II) bioremediation induced by different microbes and its multi-mechanisms. Moreover, we also discussed the progress and limitations, summarized the common rules of lead(II)-microbe interaction, and evaluated the environmental significance of microbes in lead biogeochemistry process. In addition, we further deliberated the feasibility and potential application of microbes in developing cost-effective, eco-friendly bioremediation or long-term management strategy for lead(II) contaminated repositories.

Competitive biosorption behavior of Pt(iv) and Pd(ii) by Providencia vermicola

Biosorption is an effective way to recover or remove metal ions from wastewater; however, the biosorption process in a multiple metal ion solution is still unclear.