Author(s)

Bao Chen, Jia-nan Liu, Zheng Wang, Lei Dong, Jing-hua Fan, Juan-juan Qu

.

To show the remediation of Pb-resistant bacteria to Pb polluted soil, several indices including microbial counts, soil enzyme activity, microbial community diversity and soil Pb concentration were investigated. Two Pb-resistant bacteria were filtrated and identified by previous study as Bacillus pumilus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (GeneBank Accession No. FJ402988 and GU017676) and inoculated to soil planted with cabbages. Soil with different Pb application rates were incubated for a period of 0, 12, 24, 36, 48 days in greenhouse. Results indicated the count of bacteria in 1000 mg/kg Pb treated soil greatly affected by inoculating Pb-resistant bacteria, which was raised about 237% and 347% compared with control. Soil urease and invertase were intensified 37.9% and 65.6% after inoculation compared with control. Phosphatase activity was inhibited by inoculation of Bacillus pumilus. Catalase activity was intensified about 64.2% in 24 days incubation but decrease in the following days. Microbial community diversity analyzed by polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) also proved that the samples inoculated with Pb-resistant bacteria exhibited more bands and intensity in DGGE patterns compared with uninoculated ones. For Pb-resistant bacteria inoculated samples, the reduction of Pb concentration in rhizospheric soil was 15 mg/kg at least and 42 mg/kg at most, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa showed a better tolerance to high Pb concentration and stronger remediation ability. It was concluded that remediation of Pb polluted soil can be promoted by the two Pb-resistant bacteria.

Pb Pollution, Pb-Resistant Bacteria, Microbial Community Diversity, PCR-DGGE, Enzyme Activity

B. Chen, J. Liu, Z. Wang, L. Dong, J. Fan and J. Qu, "Remediation of Pb-Resistant Bacteria to Pb Polluted Soil," Journal of Environmental Protection, Vol. 2 No. 2, 2011, pp. 130-141. doi: 10.4236/jep.2011.22015.