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Assessing nickel tolerance of bacteria isolated from serpentine soils
Flávio Silva Costa1,2, Maria Wanna Figueiredo Sena Macedo1, Ana Carolina Moreira Araújo1
1Graduate Program in Genomic Sciences and Biotechnology, Universidade Católica de Brasília, SGAN 916, Avenida W5, Brasilia, 70790-160, Brazil.
Abstract:
Serpentine soils present unique characteristics such as a low Ca/Mg ratio, low concentration of nutrients, and a high concentration of heavy metals, especially nickel. Soil bacterial isolates from an ultramafic complex located in the tropical savanna known as the Brazilian Cerrado were studied. Nickel-tolerant bacteria were obtained, and their ability to remove nickel from a culture medium was assessed. Bacterial isolates presented higher tolerance to nickel salts than previously reported for bacteria obtained from serpentine environments in other regions of the world. In addition, the quantification of nickel in cell pellets indicated that at least four isolates may adsorb soluble forms of nickel. It is expected that information gathered in this study will support future efforts to exploit serpentine soil bacteria for biotechnological processes involving nickel decontamination from environmental samples.
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