Morphological Changes and Oxidative Stress in Actinobacteria during Removal of Heavy Metals

COLIN, VERÓNICA LETICIA; VILLEGAS, LILIANA BEATRIZ; PEREIRA, CLAUDIA ELIZABETH; AMOROSO, MARIA JULIA; ABATE, CARLOS MAURICIO

Actinobacteria: Application in Bioremediation and Production of Industrial Enzymes

SCIENCE PUBLISHERS

Lugar: ENFIELD, NEW HAMPSHIRE 03748, USA; Año: 2012;

Heavy metals such as copper and chromium play an important role as trace elements in biochemical reactions but these metals are toxic at higher concentrations, producing serious public health problems. Actinobacteria are gram-positive free-living saprophytes which found predominantly in the soil. Due to their filamentous nature, metabolic diversity and relatively rapid colonization of selective substrates, actinobacteria are considered as potential bioremediators of zones contamined with heavy metals. The most characteristic important is that the system is environment friendly. Considering that copper and chromium are redox-active metals, which acts as catalysts in the formation of oxygen reactive species, antioxidant capacity of many actinobacteria has been referring in terms of activity levels of antioxidant. Similarly, many studies reported on inexorable morphological alteration in diverse microorganisms associated to oxidative stress caused by the presence of heavy metals. This chapter discusses on both morphological alterations and antioxidant enzymes levels changes in native actinobacteria of our region, during oxidative stress caused by Cu(II) and/or Cr(VI).