Bacterial communities of Iradiator Gamma Karet Alam (IRKA) pool water

Abstract

Bacteria which are living in extreme environment have potential for bioprospection as candidates for drug discovery and bioremediation. Radiation-resistant bacteria can be obtained from environments that have radiation sources. Pool water containing radioactive material is one of the important components in the Iradiator Gamma Karet Alam (IRKA) facility. Research on the presence of bacterial communities in the IRKA cooling pool water has never been conducted. This study was conducted to determine the bacterial community of IRKA cooling pool water using Nanopore Sequencing. The study identified 7 phyla, with Proteobacteria and Firmicutes as the dominant with 95.9 and 3.9%, respectively. Phreatobacter, specifically P. oligotrophus, emerged as the dominant genus and the most prevalent species, constituting 71.22% of the cooling pool water samples at the IRKA facility. The limited number of studies conducted on these dominant species presents an opportunity for further exploration of their potential benefits.