Biotransformation of Heavy Metals from Soil in Synthetic Medium Enriched with Glucose and Shewanella sp. HN-41 at Various pH

Abstract

The biotransformation of heavy metals from contaminated soil was examined using a facultative anaerobic bacterium Shewanella sp. HN-41. The experiments were carried out to assess the influence of glucose at various pH on the transformation of heavy metals from soil thorough solubilization. A preliminary study on the transformation of heavy metals from soil was first performed using a defined medium supplemented with glucose at 10, 20, and 30 mM to select the effective concentration. Among the three concentrations examined, glucose at 30 mM leached a highest level of metal ions. Therefore, 30 mM glucose was used as the representative carbon source for the subsequent experiments in a defined medium at various pH (5, 6, 7, 8, and 9). The organism HN-41 was not influenced by pH ranging from acidic to neutral and was able to metabolize all the metal elements from contaminated soil. The level of Fe, Cr, As, Mn, Pb, and Al solubilization ranged from 3 to 7664 mg kg⁻¹ at various initial pH. The rate of metal solubilization was found to be low at neutral pH compared with acidic and alkaline. These results are expected to assist in the development of heavy metal transformation processes for the decontamination of heavy metal-contaminated soil.

Keywords :

• glucose
• heavy metals
• redox potential
• synthetic medium
• Shewanella sp.

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the Korea Research Foundation, Republic of Korea, for the financial support (Project No. KRF-2005-070-C-00137) to accomplish this research. This work was carried out with the financial support of the Catholic University of Korea Research Fund 2011–2012.