Identification of heavy metal resistant bacteria isolated from Yangtze river, China

Heavy metals present in the environment posses significant global problem and warrant ultimate remediation measurement. In the present study, bacteria were isolated from the Yangtze River, China and six isolates were further selected on the basis of tolerance to various heavy metals. Based on various biochemical, physiological and 16S rDNA analyses; these bacteria belonged to five distinct genera, Pseudomonas putida, Cupriavidus necator, Exiguobacterium sp., Bacillus aquimaris, B. cereus, and Alcaligenes sp. Minimum inhibitory concentration test recorded that Pseudomonas putida YR8 and Alcaligenes sp. YR11 had a high level of tolerance (between 5 and 10 mM) to the heavy metals tested. The multiple heavy-metal resistant bacteria of present study could survive well in the heavy metal contaminated environment and thus can be exploited for the remediation of metals from such environment.