Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 5, 2026

Liquid-cell Transmission Electron Microscopy for Tracking Self-assembly of Nanoparticles
Published on: October 16, 2017
Reduction of selenite to selenium nanoparticles by highly selenite-tolerant bacteria isolated from seleniferous soil
Meng Ge1, Shaofeng Zhou1, Daobo Li1
1Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Microbial Culture Collection and Application, State Key Laboratory of Applied Microbiology Southern China, Institute of Microbiology, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510070, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Protection Microbiology and Regional Ecological Security, Guangzhou 510070, China.
Abstract:
The microbial reduction of selenite to elemental selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) is thought to be an effective detoxification process of selenite for many bacteria. In this study, Metasolibacillus sp. ES129 and Oceanobacillus sp. ES111 with high selenite reduction efficiency or tolerance were selected for systematic and comparative studies on their performance in selenite removal and valuable SeNPs recovery. The kinetic monitoring of selenite reduction showed that the highest transformation efficiency of selenite to SeNPs was achieved at a concentration of 4.24 mM for ES129 and 4.88 mM for ES111. Ultramicroscopic analysis suggested that the SeNPs produced by ES111 and ES129 had been formed in cytoplasm and subsequently released to extracellular space through cell lysis process. Furthermore, the transcriptome analysis indicated that the expression of genes involved in bacillithiol biosynthesis, selenocompound metabolism and proline metabolism were significantly up-regulated during selenite reduction, suggesting that the transformation of selenite to Se0 may involve multiple pathways. Besides, the up-regulation of genes associated with nucleotide excision repair and antioxidation-related enzymes may enhance the tolerance of bacteria to selenite. Generally, the exploration of selenite reduction and tolerance mechanisms of the highly selenite-tolerant bacteria is of great significance for the effective utilization of microorganisms for environmental remediation.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Environmental Applications of Microorganisms
Physical Methods for Controlling Microbial Growth: Radiation and Filtration
Soil Microbial Ecology
Microbial Bioremediation of Pesticides
Microbial Leaching
Microbial Corrosion

