Harnessing the Potential of Bacillus altitudinis MT422188 for Copper Bioremediation

Maryam Khan; Muhammad Kamran; Roqayah H Kadi; Mohamed M Hassan; Abeer Elhakem; Haifa Abdulaziz Sakit ALHaithloul; Mona H Soliman; Muhammad Zahid Mumtaz; Muhammad Ashraf; Saba Shamim

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2022.878000

Harnessing the Potential of Bacillus altitudinis MT422188 for Copper Bioremediation

Front Microbiol. 2022 May 19:13:878000. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.878000. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, The University of Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan.
² School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
³ Department of Biology, College of Science, University of Jeddah, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Department of Biology, College of Science, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Department of Biology, College of Sciences and Humanities, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Al-Kharj, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Biology Department, College of Science, Jouf University, Sakaka, Saudi Arabia.
⁷ Botany and Microbiology Department, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt.
⁸ Biology Department, Faculty of Science, Taibah University, Al-Sharm, Yanbu El-Bahr, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

The contamination of heavy metals is a cause of environmental concern across the globe, as their increasing levels can pose a significant risk to our natural ecosystems and public health. The present study was aimed to evaluate the ability of a copper (Cu)-resistant bacterium, characterized as Bacillus altitudinis MT422188, to remove Cu from contaminated industrial wastewater. Optimum growth was observed at 37°C, pH 7, and 1 mm phosphate, respectively. Effective concentration 50 (EC₅₀), minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), and cross-heavy metal resistance pattern were observed at 5.56 mm, 20 mm, and Ni > Zn > Cr > Pb > Ag > Hg, respectively. Biosorption of Cu by live and dead bacterial cells in its presence and inhibitors 1 and 2 (DNP and DCCD) was suggestive of an ATP-independent efflux system. B. altitudinis MT422188 was also able to remove 73 mg/l and 82 mg/l of Cu at 4th and 8th day intervals from wastewater, respectively. The presence of Cu resulted in increased GR (0.004 ± 0.002 Ug^-1FW), SOD (0.160 ± 0.005 Ug^-1FW), and POX (0.061 ± 0.004 Ug^-1FW) activity. Positive motility (swimming, swarming, twitching) and chemotactic behavior demonstrated Cu as a chemoattractant for the cells. Metallothionein (MT) expression in the presence of Cu was also observed by SDS-PAGE. Adsorption isotherm and pseudo-kinetic-order studies suggested Cu biosorption to follow Freundlich isotherm as well as second-order kinetic model, respectively. Thermodynamic parameters such as Gibbs free energy (∆G°), change in enthalpy (∆H° = 10.431 kJ/mol), and entropy (∆S° = 0.0006 kJ/mol/K) depicted the biosorption process to a feasible, endothermic reaction. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and Energy-Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDX) analyses revealed the physiochemical and morphological changes in the bacterial cell after biosorption, indicating interaction of Cu ions with its functional groups. Therefore, these features suggest the potentially effective role of B. altitudinis MT422188 in Cu bioremediation.

Keywords: biosorption; copper bioremediation; industrial wastewater; isotherm; thermodynamics.