Upcoming Seminar 22nd of February
Mersor cium
Hello Mersorcium-mates,
Let's kick off 2024 together!
I am thrilled to invite you to our seminar, where Carla Pereira-García, Ph.D. student and one of our board members, will present her freshly published article
Unmasking the physiology of mercury detoxifying bacteria from polluted sediments
Abstract:
'Marine sediments polluted from anthropogenic activities can be major reservoirs of toxic mercury species. Some microorganisms in these environments have the capacity to detoxify these pollutants, by using the mer operon. In this study, we characterized microbial cultures isolated from polluted marine sediments growing under diverse environmental conditions of salinity, oxygen availability and mercury tolerance. Specific growth rates and percentage of mercury removal were measured in batch cultures for a selection of isolates. A culture affiliated with Pseudomonas putida (MERCC_1942), which contained a mer operon as well as other genes related to metal resistances,was selected as the best candidate for mercury elimination. In order to optimize mercury detoxification conditions for strain MERCC_1942 in continuous culture, three different dilution rates were tested in bioreactors until the cultures achieved steady state, and they were subsequently exposed to a mercury spike; after 24 h, strain MERCC_1942 removed up to 76% of the total mercury. Moreover, when adapted to high growth rates in bioreactors, this strain exhibited the highest specific mercury detoxification rates. Finally, an immobilization protocol using the sol-gel technology was optimized. These results highlight that some sediment bacteria show capacity to detoxify mercury and could be used for bioremediation applications”
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.133685
The seminar will be on Thursday, February 22nd at 14:00 (2:00 PM) UTC. (A Zoom link will be provided in the next email)
Please share this information with whomever you may think is interested and
feel free to share the poster (see attached) in your social media.
Thank you for your time and see you at the seminar!
Mersorcium seminar committee