Abstract

ISOLATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF HEAVY METAL AND ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANT BACTERIA FROM INDUSTRIAL EFFLUENTS

Sukhvir Kaur*, Harjot Pal Kaur and Rimpy Rani

ABSTRACT

Heavy metals are intense public concern owing to their persistence in the environment and potential deleterious effects on human health. Therefore the present study was focused on the biological methods for the removal of hazardous heavy metals. 10 different types of bacterial isolates that are able to grow on nutrient agar incorporated with heavy metals viz., Cd2+, Ni2+, Co2+, Pb4+ and Cu4+ were isolated from industrial effluent sample and were identified as Pseudomonas sp., Staphylococcus sp. and Escherichia coli. Isolates in the present study showed multiple tolerances to different heavy metals and exhibited high resistance to heavy metals with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) ranging from 80 to 380 μg/ml. Maximum tolerances to copper showing the growth of microorganisms up to 380 μg/ml and minimum tolerance to nickel shows no growth above 160 μg/ml. Antibiotic sensitivity for different antibiotics was tested on heavy metal resistant isolates. All the isolates were multiantibiotic resistant except isolate HMR 7 and HMR 10 which were found to be single antibiotic resistant. Present study showed that the Pseudomonas, Staphylococcus and Escherichia coli are capable of utilizing heavy metals contaminants and may be employed in the future for the removal of heavy metals. However, it is important to note that some species of these bacteria are opportunistic pathogens. The heavy metal resistant organism could be a potential agent for bioremediation of heavy metals pollution.

Keywords: Heavy metal resistant, Antibiotic sensitivity, MIC, Bioremediation.