Molecular and Behavioural Characterization of Arsenate Resistant Bacteria Isolated from Surface Water

Banerjee, Paromita (2014) Molecular and Behavioural Characterization of Arsenate Resistant Bacteria Isolated from Surface Water. PhD thesis, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Kolkata.

PDF (PhD thesis of Paromita Banerjee) Paromita_Banerjee_Thesis.pdf - Submitted Version Restricted to Repository staff only Download (6MB)

Abstract

Occurrence of arsenic in the environment is of great concern to human society and a real threat to other living organisms. It is widely distributed in nature and is derived from both natural geothermal and anthropogenic sources. Arsenic toxicity has now become a global concern because of ever increasing arsenic contamination of soil, water and crops in different regions of the world. The results in the present study consolidate our finding of arsenate resisting bacterial consortia existing in the water body naturally in Kolkata port. Although arsenic is toxic to many bacteria, some are equipped with resistant to arsenic toxicity either due to presence of strictly phosphate specific transport system or due to an efflux system mediated by plasmid or chromosomally encoded ars operon or related genes. Therefore, the arsenate resistant bacteria isolated from surface water of Kolkata port can be tested in future for the ability of arsenic bioremediation in pilot scale. Bacillus thuringiensis is an economically and medically important strain, so future investigations on structural and functional aspects related to the arsenate reductase protein may lead to new exploration of dealing with arsenic toxicity and detoxification processes. Also, the behavioural changes manifested by Bacillus thuringiensis cells under different conditions can also be explored in future in details in order to understand in depth mechanisms of bacterial cooperation, evolution of multicellularity and development of survival strategies in bacterial communities.

Actions (login required)

View Item