Study Of Lead Resistant Microorganism and Plant Interaction

Abstract

Environmental pollution with toxic heavy metals is a wide spread problem throughout the world with the advancement of industries and indiscriminate use of toxic metals for various manufacturing processes. Unlike organic compounds, metals cannot be degraded, and cleanup usually requires their removal from their contaminated sites. Conventional physico-chemical methods such as electrochemical treatment, ion exchange, precipitation, reverse osmosis, evaporation and sorption are costly, high-energy consuming and produce toxic waste products which require further disposal. Heavy metal resistant microorganisms and plants have been well established as bio accumulators of soluble and particulate forms of heavy metals. Microbe and plant related technologies may provide an alternate or additional approach to conventional method of heavy metal removal. Therefore, a study was carried out to determine the effect of lead resistant microorganism on heavy metal resistant plant Helianthus annuus and newly found Solanum nigrum in remediation of lead. Inoculation of the plants with bacterial isolate showed significantly increased growth rate. Heavy metal deposition in the leaves and stem of the plants were tested by scanning electron microscopy.