Artificial induction and isolation of cadmium-tolerant soil bacteria

Environmental pollution caused by various heavy metals is a serious global problem. To solve this problem, microbial bioremediation of contaminated metals has developed rapidly as an effective strategy when physical and chemical techniques are not suitable. In this study, cadmium (Cd)-tolerant soil bacteria were isolated via artificial induction in laboratory conditions instead of screening bacteria naturally adapted to metal-contaminated soils. Wild-type (WT) bacteria grown in uncontaminated soils were artificially and sequentially adapted to gradually increasing Cd concentrations of up to 15 mM. The resultant cells, named Soil-CdR15, survived at a Cd concentration of 10 mM, whereas WT cells failed to survive with 4 mM Cd on solid media for 2 d. In liquid media containing Cd, the Soil-CdR15 cells grew with 15 mM Cd for 7 d, whereas the WT cells could not grow with 5 mM Cd. Both Soil-CdR15 and WT cells removed approximately 35% of Cd at the same capacity from liquid media containing either 0.5 or 1.0 mM Cd over 2 d. In addition to Cd, the Soil-CdR15 cells showed increased resistance to nickel, zinc, and arsenic compared to WT cells. The Soil-CdR cells were identified as Burkholderia sp. by partial sequencing of 16S rRNA. The data presented in this study demonstrate that isolation of heavy metal-tolerant microorganisms via artificial induction in laboratory conditions is possible and may be useful for the application of the microorganisms for the bioremediation of heavy metals.