Isolation and characterization of Rhizobium heavy metals - resistant strains

DAVILA COSTA J.S.; AMOROSO M.J.; ABATE C.M.

San Miguel de Tucumán

Jornada; XXIIJornadas Científicas de Biología de Tucumán; 2006

Sociedad de Biología de Tucumán

Heavy metal soil contaminations from industrial activities such as mining, ore processing, smelting and metal plating can easily create local conditions of high metal concentrations, which could lead to hazardous effects on humans, animals and environmental balances. One solution of these problems can find in the bioremediation of polluted soils using plants and microorganisms. Four strains of Rhizobium were isolated from soil samples collected from arable camps with soya and alfalfa; and from nodules of legume plants of genus Vicia sp. 16S rDNA restriction digestion of 1,500 bp amplicon with CfoI and HpaII showed only two restriction pattern for all the strain. Qualitative and semi quantitative assays showed that all strains were resistant up to 1 mM of CuSO4 and up to 0.05 mM of CdCl2, however A1 and S1 were toletant up to 0.27 mM of CdCl2. The results of this work contribute to bear the hypothesis to use Rhizobium strains associate with legume plants in bioremediation of polluted soils with heavy metals.