Ashok and Rita Patel Institute of Integrated Study & Research in Biotechnology and Allied sciences (ARIBAS), New Vallabh Vidyanagar – 388 121 (Gujarat) India.
A chromium resistant bacterial strain KK6 was isolated from chromium contaminated soil. On the basis of different morphological, biochemical characteristics and 16S rRNA gene analysis the strain KK6 was identified as Staphylococcus sp. Hexavalent chromium resistance of the strain showed that it could tolerate very high concentration of K2CrO4 in nutrient agar medium. Assay with resting cells, permeabilized cells and crude cell free extracts demonstrated that the hexavalent chromium reduction is mainly associated with the soluble fraction of cell. The strain could also reduce hexavalent chromium in industrial effluent. Staphylococcus sp. has a great potential for bioremediation of Cr (VI) containing waste. This approach permits selection of bacterial strains, which could be used for specific environmental clean up operation.
Bioremediation, Staphylococcus sp, Hexavalent chromium reduction, packed bed bioreactor, Vigna radiata
