A novel method for the measurement of elemental selenium produced by bacterial reduction of selenite

Keka C Biswas; Larry L Barton; Wai Lok Tsui; Kevin Shuman; Jacquelyn Gillespie; Chioma S Eze

doi:10.1016/j.mimet.2011.04.009

A novel method for the measurement of elemental selenium produced by bacterial reduction of selenite

J Microbiol Methods. 2011 Aug;86(2):140-4. doi: 10.1016/j.mimet.2011.04.009. Epub 2011 Apr 20.

Authors

Keka C Biswas¹, Larry L Barton, Wai Lok Tsui, Kevin Shuman, Jacquelyn Gillespie, Chioma S Eze

Affiliation

¹ Department of Science, Wesley College, Dover, DE 19901, USA.

PMID: 21536079
DOI: 10.1016/j.mimet.2011.04.009

Abstract

The measurement of elemental selenium (Se(0)) is needed to assess the rate and magnitude of bacteria reduction of selenite or selenate. We have developed a spectrophotometric method for the measurement Se(0) that is rapid and can be employed to measure the quantity of Se(0) produced by bacterial cultures. This method employs the use of 1M Na(2)S to convert the insoluble elemental selenium to a red-brown solution and with this method there is a direct correlation between concentration of elemental selenium and the absorption at 500nm. To demonstrate the utility of this assay, we have followed the reduction of selenite to Se(0) by Moraxella bovis, and by bacterial consortia in soil and water samples.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Bacteria / metabolism*
Oxidation-Reduction
Selenium / analysis*
Sodium Selenite / metabolism*
Soil Microbiology
Spectrophotometry / methods*
Water Microbiology

Substances

Selenium
Sodium Selenite