Isolation of Mo-reducing bacterium in soils from Pakistan

Abstract

Molybdenum is a heavy metal that is very toxic to ruminants and has been shown to inhibit spermatogenesis in catfish and mice at levels as low as several parts per million. In this work we report the first isolation of molybdenum-reducing bacteria from Pakistani soils. Out of the ten isolates, three were able to reduce molybdenum to molybdenum blue at molybdenum concentration in excess of 50 mM. Several strains were able to reduce molybdenum in the presence of the toxic heavy metals copper and mercury. All isolates were resistant to chromium concentration as high as 10 mM. The characteristics of these strains make them very useful in bioremediation works in Pakistani soils.