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Fluctuation in recoverable nickel and zinc resistant copiotrophic bacteria explained by the varying zinc ion content of Torsa River in different months

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Abstract

Heavy metal content analysis of River Torsa in India did not indicate any alarming level of toxicity for human consumption but revealed variation at the ppb level in different months. The variation in recoverable nickel and zinc resistant copiotrophic (or eutrophic) bacterial counts was explained by the variation of the zinc content (34.0–691.3 ppb) of the river water in different sampling months. Growth studies conducted with some purified nickel and/or zinc resistant strains revealed that pre-exposure of the cells to ppb levels of Zn2+, comparable to the indigenous zinc ion concentration of the river, could induce the nickel or zinc resistance. A minimum concentration of 5–10 μM Zn2+ (325–650 ppb) was found effective in inducing the Nickel resistance of the isolates. Zinc resistance of the isolates was tested by pre-exposing the cells to 4 μM Zn2+ (260 ppb). The lag phase was reduced by 6–8 h in all the cases. Biochemical characteristics and phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rDNA sequence indicated that some of the Torsa River isolates, having inducible nickel and zinc resistance, are members of the genus Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter, Bacillus, Enterobacter, Serratia and Moraxella.

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Acknowledgments

The research was supported by ‘Council of Scientific and Industrial Research’ under sanction no. 9/285(16)/2001-EMR-I. We also acknowledge the cooperation of the Department of Chemistry, Burdwan University, India, for AAS analysis of samples, and MTCC, Chandigarh, India, for providing biochemical properties of some isolates.

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  1. Bhaskar Bhadra

    Present address: Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Uppal Road, Hyderabad, 500007, Andhra Pradesh, India

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biotechnology, North Bengal University, Siliguri, 734430, West Bengal, India

    Bhaskar Bhadra & Ranadhir Chakraborty

  2. Department of Chemistry, North Bengal University, Siliguri, 734430, West Bengal, India

    Ashis Kumar Nanda

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  1. Bhaskar Bhadra
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  2. Ashis Kumar Nanda
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  3. Ranadhir Chakraborty
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Correspondence to Ranadhir Chakraborty.

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Communicated by Jörg Overmann.

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Bhadra, B., Nanda, A.K. & Chakraborty, R. Fluctuation in recoverable nickel and zinc resistant copiotrophic bacteria explained by the varying zinc ion content of Torsa River in different months. Arch Microbiol 188, 215–224 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-007-0236-7

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