Induced Formation of Chelating Agents by Pseudomonas aeruginosa Grown in Presence of Thorium and Uranium

摘要

The aim of this program is to (1) identify microorganisms which bioaccumulate strategically important metals such as chromium, cobalt, niobium, tin and platinum; (2) learn about the mechanisms which govern the bioaccumulation processes at the molecular level, including the chemical characterization of naturally occurring chelating agents; (3) immobilize isolated reactive centers, either cellular or molecular onto an inert carrier so that specific metals can be selectively recovered, and (4) suitably scale up the process developed from the information obtained in (1) - (3). If advisable in the future phases of the program, the most successful organisms will be subjected to genetic engineering manipulation. The selected microorganisms are part of a Brookhaven National Laboratory collection which includes strains of metal resistant organisms such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa CSU, P. aeruginosa PAO-1, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Aspergillus niger, P. fluorescens, Escherichlia coli, and Thiobacillus ferroxidans. Interaction of these microorganisms with salts of chromium, tin, manganese, cobalt, platinum, uranium and thorium has been investigated.