Identification of a new heavy-metal-resistant strain of Geobacillus stearothermophilus isolated from a hydrothermally active volcanic area in southern Italy

Abstract

Microorganisms thriving in hot springs and hydrothermally active volcanic areas are dynamically involved in heavy-metal biogeochemical cycles; they have developed peculiar resistance systems to cope with such metals which nowadays can be considered among the most permanent and toxic pollutants for humans and the environment. For this reason, their exploitation is functional to unravel mechanisms of toxic-metal detoxification and to address bioremediation of heavy-metal pollution with eco-sustainable approaches. In this work, we isolated a novel strain of the thermophilic bacterium Geobacillus stearothermophilus from the solfataric mud pool in Pisciarelli, a well-known hydrothermally active zone of the Campi Flegrei volcano located near Naples in Italy, and characterized it by ribotyping, 16S rRNA sequencing and mass spectrometry analyses. The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) toward several heavy-metal ions indicated that the novel G. stearothermophilus isolate is particularly resistant to some of them. Functional and morphological analyses suggest that it is endowed with metal resistance systems for arsenic and cadmium detoxification.