Bioreduction of Cr(VI) by Viable Cells and Cell-Free Extract of a Moderate Halophile, Halomonas Smyrnensis KS802 and Evaluation of Their in Vitro Efficacy in Tannery Effluent

The present study was aimed to characterize the chromate reducing ability of cells and cell-free extract (CFE) of Halomonas smyrnensis KS802 (GenBank Accession No. KU982965) and evaluate their effectiveness in tannery effluents. Viable cells of the strain reduced 200 µM Cr(VI) in basal medium for halophiles (MH) in 10 h and was inversely proportional to Cr(VI) concentrations. The rapid reduction by cells (10⁹ cells/mL) was achieved with 7.5% NaCl, at pH 7 and 37°C which increased with increasing cell density (10¹° cells/mL). While acetate, Cu³⁺, Fe³⁺, SO₄²⁻, and CO₃²⁻ were stimulating the reduction, the inhibitors retarded the process significantly. The NADH-dependent chromate reduction of the CFE was found to be constitutive with Km and Vmax values of 56.58 µM and 3.37 µM/min/mg protein respectively. The optimal reductase activity of the CFE was evident at 200 µM Cr(VI), 10% NaCl, pH 8.0 and at 45°C. A higher concentration of CFE and electron donors increased the enzyme activity but was impacted negatively by toxic metals and anions. Both the cells and CFE were capable of reducing Cr(VI) remarkably from tannery effluent. FTIR and XRD spectra of chromate reducing cells confirmed possible complexation of reduced Cr-species with functional groups on cell surface.

Biomineralization of Monohydrocalcite Induced by the Halophile Halomonas smyrnensis WMS‐3

The halophilic bacterium Halomonas smyrnensis from a modern salt lake used in experiments to induce biomineralization has resulted in the precipitation of monohydrocalcite and other carbonate minerals. In this study, a Halomonas smyrnensis WMS‐3 (GenBank:MH425323) strain was identified based on 16S rDNA homology comparison, and then cultured in mediums with 3% NaCl concentration to induce monohydrocalcite at different Mg/Ca molar ratios of 0, 2, 5, 7, and 9. The growth curve of WMS‐3 bacteria, pH values, NH4+ concentration, HCO3− and CO32− concentration, carbonic anhydrase (CA) activity, and the changes in Ca2+ and Mg2+ ion concentration were determined to further explore the extracellular biomineralization mechanism. Moreover, the nucleation mechanism of monohydrocalcite on extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) was analyzed through studying ultrathin slices of the WMS‐3 strain by High resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), Selected area election diffraction (SAED), Scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), and elemental mapping, besides this, amino acids in the EPS were also analyzed. The results show that pH increased to about 9.0 under the influence of ammonia and CA activity. The precipitation ratio (%, the ratio of the mass/volume concentration) of the Ca2+ ion was 64.32%, 62.20%, 60.22%, 59.57%, and 54.42% at Mg/Ca molar ratios of 0, 2, 5, 7, and 9, respectively, on the 21st day of the experiments, and 6.69%, 7.10%, 7.74%, 8.09% for the Mg2+ ion concentration at Mg/Ca molar ratios 2, 5, 7, and 9, respectively. The obtained minerals were calcite, Mg‐rich calcite, aragonite, and hydromagnesite, in addition to the monohydrocalcite, as identified by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses. Monohydrocalcite had higher crystallinity when the Mg/Ca ratio increased from 7 to 9; thus, the stability of monohydrocalcite increased, also proven by the thermogravimetry (TG), derivative thermogravimetry (DTG) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analyses. The C=O and C–O–C organic functional groups present in/on the minerals analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), the various morphologies and the existence of P and S determined by scanning electron microscope-energy dispersive spectrometer (SEM‐EDS), the relatively more negative stable carbon isotope values (−16.91‰ to −17.91‰) analyzed by a carbon isotope laser spectrometer, plus the typical surface chemistry by XPS, all support the biogenesis of these mineral precipitates. Moreover, Ca2+ ions were able to enter the bacterial cell to induce intracellular biomineralization. This study is useful to understand the mechanism of biomineralization further and may provide theoretical reference concerning the formation of monohydrocalcite in nature.

PRODUCTION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF EXOPOLYSACCHARIDE FROM MARINE MODERATELY HALOPHILIC BACTERIUM HALOMONAS SMYRNENSIS SVD III

Objective: To study 1) Optimization of nutritional and environmental parameters to enhance the yield of EPS by Halomonas smyrnensis SVD III isolated from seawater, West Coast of Maharashtra, India and 2) Purification and characterization of the EPS produced.Methods: The isolate was grown in Sehgal and Gibbons (SG) medium broth supplemented with 3% glucose, at 37 °C, 120 rpm for 7 d. Optimization of different parameters was carried out with one factor at a time approach. EPS was isolated from cell-free supernatant of the culture broth by centrifugation and precipitation using chilled ethanol, after removal of proteins by trichloroacetic acid (TCA) treatment. Characterization of the purified EPS was carried out with respect to fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectrum, 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrum and mass spectrometry (MS) analysis.Results: Two-fold increase in the yield of EPS (23 g/l) by the selected isolate was obtained by using culture conditions as 10% inoculum size having cell density of 107 cells/ml, pH 6, incubation temperature 45 °C, 3% carbohydrate, 0.5% yeast extract as nitrogen source, 20% salt concentration and 7 d of incubation period. Characterization of the purified EPS suggested the presence of dominated glycosidic linkages and heptasaccharide nature of the molecule. As the present strain is halophilic, 20% NaCl was found to be optimum.Conclusion: Optimization studies resulted in two-fold increase in the yield of EPS which is of heptasaccharide nature.