Biomineralization of Metallic Tellurium by Bacteria Isolated From Marine Sediment Off Niigata Japan

Abstract

Three facultative anaerobe mesophilic bacteria were isolated from marine sediment collected off Niigata, Japan. Sequencing of complete 16S ribo-somal DNA revealed 99% homology with Shewanella algae, Pseudomonas pseudo-alcaligenes, and P. stutzeri. Phylogenetic analyses suggest novel strain status thus new strains were designated as S. algae strain Hiro-1, P. pseudoalcaligenes strain Hiro-2, and P. stutzeri strain Hiro-3. Minimum inhibitory concentration assays using increasing concentrations of Na 2 TeO 3 revealed resistance of S. algae strain Hiro-1 at 15 mM, and P. pseudoalcaligenes strain Hiro-2 and P. stutzeri strain Hiro-3 both showed resistance at 4 mM. Transmission electron microscopy revealed intracellular aggregation of metallic tellurium nanorods with a minimum unit size of 60-nm nanoparticle.