Study illustrates mercury bioremediation by transgenic bacteria

Quantitative analysis methods have highlighted a viable approach to mercury bioremediation from liquid matrices, a new study has revealed.

An investigation, published in BMC Biotechnology, aimed to discover a feasible way to use transgenic bacteria as a suitable alternative for mercury remediation, with mercury ideally sequestered by metal-scavenging agents inside transgenic bacteria for subsequent retrieval.

The approach had previously produced limited production and accumulation, but the scientists from Puerto Rico hoped to develop a transgenic system that would effectively express metallothionein (mt-1) and polyphosphate kinase (ppk) genes in bacteria in order to provide high mercury resistance and accumulation.

Using quantitative analysis methods, the team showed for the first time that metallothionein can be efficiently expressed in bacteria without being fused to a carrier protein to enhance mercury bioremediation.

The high accumulation of mercury found in transgenic cells could create the possibility of retrieving the substance for industrial applications, the report claimed.