Study of the proteins involved in the resistance of cadmium of Thiobacillus ferrooxidans

摘要

Microbial leaching is one of the most advantageous methods of removing heavy metals loin stilfide ores and sewage sludges. Several species of bacteria were found to resist high levels of heavy metals, like copper, zinc and others. In the present work total proteins from Thiobacillus ferrooxidans, have been fractionated by SDS-PAGE. Cells grown on media with or without Cd~(2+) showed different patterns of proteins. The influence of the cadmium ion was tested at different concentrations. The maximum concentrations were 10,000 ppm. While some proteins remained unchanged in cells grown under different conditions (without and with several concentrations of metallic ion), others were present only under one of them and/or in different relative amounts. We suggest that the enhanced resistance to cadmium in T. ferrooxidans is gained through enhanced synthesis of proteins involved in resistance.