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.