Growth pattern and multi-metal screening of NR5
Growth pattern of the most potential bacterium NR5 was observed under varying concentration of As (V). It was noticed that increasing concentration of arsenic extended the log phase of growth (Figure 1b). NR5 was found to tolerate multiple heavy metals at different concentrations, As (1100), Cd (100), Co (150), Cu (200), Cr (500), Pb (1000), Hg (100), Ni (150) and Zn (400) mgL-1. We reported that heavy metal tolerant bacterium NR5 exhibited tolerance against all 9 tested heavy metals, and explored for the possible mechanism of metal tolerance of the organism. Further, high concentration tolerance of arsenic in NR5 makes it a candidate bacterium to further explore its role in bioremediation of As in spinach crop plant.