Bacillus safensis JG-B5T affects the fate of selenium by extracellular production of colloidally less stable selenium nanoparticles.
Understanding the impact of microorganisms on the mobility of selenium (Se) is important for predicting the fate of toxic Se in the environment and improving wastewater treatment technologies. The bacteria strain Bacillus safensis JG-B5T, isolated from soil in a uranium mining waste pile, can influence the Se speciation in the environment and engineered systems. However, the mechanism and conditions of this process remain unknown. This study found that the B. safensis JG-B5T is an obligate aerobic microorganism with an ability to reduce 70% of 2.5 mM selenite to produce red spherical biogenic elemental selenium nanoparticles (BioSeNPs). Only extracellular production of BioSeNPs was observed using transmission electron microscopy. The two-chamber reactor experiments, genome analysis and corona proteins identified on BioSeNPs suggested that the selenite reduction process was primarily mediated through membrane-associated proteins, like succinate dehydrogenase. Extracellular presence and low colloidal stability of BioSeNPs as indicated by ζ-potential measurements, render B. safensis JG-B5T an attractive candidate in wastewater treatment as it provides easy way of recovering Se while maintaining low Se discharge. As this microorganism decreases Se mobility, it will affect Se bioavailability in the environment and decreases its toxicity.
['Fischer|Sarah|S|', 'Krause|Thomas|T|', 'Lederer|Franziska|F|', 'Merroun|Mohamed L|ML|', 'Shevchenko|Anna|A|', 'Hübner|René|R|', 'Firkala|Tamas|T|', 'Stumpf|Thorsten|T|', 'Jordan|Norbert|N|', 'Jain|Rohan|R|']
D001407:Bacillus D019149:Bioreactors D003102:Colloids D053758:Nanoparticles D010802:Phylogeny D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S D012338:RNA, Ribosomal, 23S D064586:Selenic Acid D020887:Selenious Acid D012643:Selenium
Obligate aerobic Selenite Two-chamber reactor Membrane-associated proteins Proteomics