Biosorption of copper by Ochrobactrum sp. isolated from Khor Mousa sediments in Persian Gulf

The pollution of the marine ecosystems with heavy metals is one of the serious effect of industrialization and development of human society. For exploitation of marine sources and constant development, it’s necessary to invent modern methods for removal of heavy metal pollution. In present study to assess the possibility of removing copper, we aimed to investigate isolation and identification of resistant bacteria and determine their potential to adsorb copper through biosorption. Sediment samples were collected from 3 stations at Khor Mousa and cultured on nutrient agar medium containing different concentrations of copper. Two copper resistance (100 ppm) bacterial strains were isolated and identified through biochemical tests and 16S rRNA analysis. Also bacterial behaviors in adsorbtion of copper were studied. Both strains belonged to Ochrobactrum genus and were gram-negative, catalase and oxidase positive. Different characteristics of bacteria were observed in PD (phenylalanine deaminase), NaCl and Ureas tests. Biosorption measurements showed that strains could adsorb more than half of copper in various concentrations in 150 minutes. The bacterial behaviors were the same in 50 ppm concentration. %73.5 and %72.6 of copper were adsorbed by strains O. tritici strain AN4 and O. anthropi strain YX0703 respectively. However, O. anthropi strain YX0703 reduced the copper concentration from 200 ppm to 72.08 ppm in 150 minutes and showed the highest copper biosorption. The results of present investigation showed that both mentioned bacteria have high ability to remove copper and we can use the potential of this group of bacteria for removal of heavy metal pollution in Persian Gulf.