Bioaccumulation of Germanium by Pseudomonas putida in the Presence of Two Selected Substrates

The uptake of germanium by Pseudomonas putida ATCC 33015 was studied in the presence of catechol or acetate or both as representative substrates differing in their ability to form complexes with this element. The bacteria were taken from a batch culture grown on acetate as the sole carbon source. Cells introduced into a medium containing germanium and either catechol or a mixture of catechol and acetate accumulated germanium in a biphasic way. After a lower level of accumulation that corresponded to the value obtained in the presence of acetate was reached, a further increase in the germanium content up to a higher saturation level was observed. The appearance of the second step of accumulation, which corresponded to the linear degradation of catechol, proved that catechol facilitated the transport of germanium into the cells through the nonspecific uptake of the germanium-catechol complex by an inducible catechol transport system.