Fatty Acids, Hydrocarbon Tolerance And Heavy Metal Tolerance Properties Of Haloalkaliphilic Bacillus Sp.

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SYED SHAMEER AND T.N.V.K.V. PRASAD*

Institute of Frontier Technologies, Nanotechnology Laboratory, RARS, ANGRAU, Tirupati-517 502, Chittoor Dt., A.P.

ABSTRACT

Microorganisms live almost everywhere including the harsh habitats on earth. In order to survive in these environments the microbes produce a variety of metabolite productcs and polymeric compounds which confer the ability to survive and thrive in such habitats. The haloalkaliphilic environments are harsher as they have a combination of saturating salinity and precipitating alkalinity, the bacteria like haloalkaliphilic Bacillus sp., are specialized to thrive in these habitats. This is achieved through the production of different compounds including special fatty acids, which confer different properties to the bacteria. In this article the different ectoines produced was assayed by FAME (Fatty Acid Methyl Esters) analysis using GC-MS (Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy) and ability to tolerate hydrocarbons and heavy metals in the surroundings is measured for three haloalkaliphilic Bacillus sp., isolated from solar salterns. The FAME GC-MS assay revealed the ectoines based fatty acids are different in the three isolates and their quantity also varied among the isolates even the source of isolation was same. The results conclude the more the ectoines produced the more tolerance they showed to hydrocarbons (petrol, diesel, xylene, toluene, and kerosene) and heavy metals (mercury, lead, cadmium, chromium, aluminum, zinc, copper, and nickel). This is the imperative to understand, and even manipulate different bacteria to accumulate/and immobilize heavy metals and decrease the toxicity of hydrocarbons

which are the major environmental pollutants.

KEYWORDS:

Haloalkaliphilic Bacillus sp.; Fatty Acid Methyl Esters (FAME); Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS); Hydrocarbons; Heavy metals.