Bioremediation potential of Bacillus cereus against copper and other heavy metals

Aim: This study is aimed at designing a bioremediation model using microbes against Cu pollution. Methods And Results: For this purpose, copper resistant bacteria were isolated from industrial areas and were characterized for its copper accumulating properties using various methods including copper accumulation, optimization, Antibiotic resistance, production of thiols, plasmid curing, SEM. The most potential strain was isolated based on its maximum tolerable capacity (MTC) of 600ppm copper accumulation. All assays were carried out under optimized culture conditions. Antibiotic resistant genes and metal resistant genes are said to get transferred together in the environment, hence both resistance were studied to confirm the hypothesis. Production of thiol compounds in response to copper toxicity seemed high. Plasmid curing confirmed the location of the copper resistant genes in the chromosomes. SEM study confirmed high copper accumulating capacity of the bacteria. Conclusions: The high copper accumulating property of the bacteria might be attributed to the highly contaminated nature of the sampling site. The level of accumulation and toleration can be enhanced by perfect optimization of all environmental and conditional parameters. On increase in the potency of the bacteria, it can be well recommended as a choice for its use in environmental applications.