Revista de biorremediación y biodegradación

Abstracto

Biosorption of Hexavalent Chromium By Paenibacillus Pabuli and Bacillus Cereus Isolated from Alkaline Industrial Contaminated Soil

Anandbabu R, Vignesh T, Subashchandra Bose G

In the present study we intended to remediate Cr(VI) with alkaliphilic bacterium Paenibacillus pabuli (JX561107) and Bacillus cereus (JX561108) isolated from alkaline industrial contaminated soil, Pondicherry. The bacterium was tested for its chromium removal efficiency at different concentration (50 mg/l, 200 mg/l, 400 mg/l). At 50 mg/l of hexavalent chromium concentration, Paenibacillus pabuli and Bacillus cereus are found to be highly efficient in removing Cr(VI) in 72 hrs at the inoculum rate of 1% of overnight grown bacterial cultures. The bacterium could remove 98% and 74% within 72 hrs at 9.5 pH. Whereas when the Cr(VI) concentration is increased to 400 mg/l, there was no removal. SEM images were done from the pellets of treated bacterium to examine the bacterial cell surface for morphological changes and EDX was also obtained to verify whether the adhered particles are chromium. The Cr(VI) removal efficiency of isolated bacterium from alkaline industrial contaminated soil are compared with efficiency of other bacterial species tested previously. The mechanism behind such adhesion and variation among bacterial population in chromium removal are discussed.