Uranium bioprecipitation mediated by a phosphate-solubilizing Enterobacter sp. N1-10 and remediation of uranium-contaminated soil

Uranium (U) pollution in soils is prevalent worldwide and poses a significant health risk that will require remediation approaches. However, traditional U bioreduction by sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) are sensitive to oxygen and are not suitable for treating aerobic topsoil. Bioprecipitation of U into uranyl phosphate (UP) mediated by phosphate-solubilizing microorganism (PSM) is not affected by oxygen. In this study, PSM strains were isolated and used for U-contaminated soil remediation. Microbial metabolites and the mechanism of PSM bioprecipitation were revealed. The results showed that strain Enterobacter sp. N1-10 had the highest phosphate-solubilizing capacity (dissolved P was 409.51 ± 8.48 mg/L). Uranium bioprecipitation was investigated by culturing the bacterium in the presence of 50 mg/L U and in the cell-free culture supernatant. The results showed that strain N1-10 had a high U removal rate (99.45 ± 0.43 %) after adding 50 mg/L U to the culture medium. A yellow precipitate was immediately formed when uranyl nitrate solution was added to the cell-free culture supernatant. The analysis indicated that bacterium produced lactic acid (37.58 mg/L), citric acid (4.76 mg/L), succinic acid (2.03 mg/L), and D-glucuronic acid (1.94 mg/L); the four organic acids solubilized Ca3(PO4)2 to form stable uranyl phosphate precipitate. The application of strain N1-10 and Ca3(PO4)2 significantly decreased the bioavailability of soil U (43.54 ± 0.52 %). In addition, pot experiments showed that PSM N1-10 and Ca3(PO4)2 promoted plant growth and markedly reduced U accumulation by pakchoi. These results demonstrate that PSM N1-10 and Ca3(PO4)2 exhibit a great potential for U bioremediation.