Assessment of Microbial Patagonian comunities for using in heavy metal bioremediation

ANA BELÉN SEGRETÍN; MARÍA ALEJANDRA LIMA; GRACIANA WILLIS PORATTI; MARÍA SOFÍA URBIETA; CECILIA BERNARDELLI; MARÍA ALEJANDRA GIAVENO; EDGARDO DONATI

Biology and Biotechnology of Patagonian Microorganisms

Springer

Año: 2016; p. 92 - 116

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 in such harsh environments have different heavy metal resistance strategies of importance in some technological applications as biomining but also in the bioremediation of metal polluted environments. In this chapter we describe the microbial diversity of an acidic, volcanic geothermal environment in Northern Patagonia of Argentina: the Copahue geothermal system, containing different geothermal manifestations with temperatures up 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 metal applications of those communities focusing mainly in the bioprecipitation of heavy metals using sulfate-reducing microorganisms.