Assessment of microbial Patagonian communities for using in heavy metal bioremediation

SEGRETIN ANA BELEN; LIMA MARIA ALEJANDRA; WILLIS PORATI GRACIANA; URBIETA MARIA SOFIA; BERNARDELLI C.,; GIAVENO MARIA ALEJANDRA; DONATI, EDGARDO

Biology and Biotechnology of Patagonian Microorganisms

SPRINGER

Lugar: AMSTERDAM; Año: 2016; p. 92 - 116

Abstract Assessing microbial communities in extreme environments allows the searchof novel extremophilic microorganisms that can be of use in the development orimprovement of biotechnological processes. Most microbial communities developed insuch harsh environments have different heavy metal resistance strategies of importancein some technological applications as biomining but also in the bioremediation of metalpolluted environments. In this chapter we describe the microbial diversity of an acidic,volcanic geothermal environment in Northern Patagonia of Argentina: the Copahuegeothermal system, containing different geothermal manifestations with temperaturesup to 90°C and pH values from 2 to 7 under aerobic and anaerobic conditions,provoking an enormous biodiversity. In addition, we report some heavy metalapplications of those communities focusing mainly in the bioprecipitation of heavymetals using sulfate-reducing microorganisms.