Pertanika Journal of Tropical Agricultural Science
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Pertanika · Universiti Putra Malaysia Press

Pertanika Journal of Tropical Agricultural Science

Official journal of Universiti Putra Malaysia for peer-reviewed research across tropical agriculture and allied agricultural sciences.

e-ISSN 2231-8542 ISSN 1511-3701
Research article

Isolation of Metal Tolerant Bacteria from Polluted Wastewater

Haryati Jamaluddin, Dalila Mad Zaki and Zaharah Ibrahim

KeywordsBacteria; Metal ion; Metal tolerant bacteria; Mining environment
Article content

Abstract

Screening of standing and flowing water sample from Malaysian gold mine environment yielded 24 single colonies and all isolates were assessed for their metal tolerance capability. A preliminary screening on Chloride Free Medium (CFM) agar plate supplemented with 5mM of Cu2+, Ag+ and Zn2+ showed that two isolates were tolerant towards Cu2+ ion, while two other isolates were tolerant towards Zn2+ ion and one single isolate was tolerant towards Ag+ ion. Partial identification by 16S rRNA determined that they are only two distinct species of bacteria, namely, Bacillus sp. and Achromobacter sp. The identification was supported by physical and biochemical characterizations which showed that Bacillus sp. was a positive rod while Achromobacter sp. was a gram negative coccus. Maximum tolerance concentrations (MTC) of Bacillus sp. and Achromobacter sp. were determined in liquid CFM medium and the results showed that Bacillus sp. could tolerate up to 20 µM Cu2+ ion and 2.5 mM Zn2+ ion, while Achromobacter sp. could tolerate up to 5 µM Ag+ and 20µM Cu2+ ion.