Effect of Heavy Metals and Antibiotics on Siderophores Producing Bacterial Isolates

Abstract

In this study, siderophore-producing bacterial species have been isolated from soils contaminated with diesel oil. In P. aeruginosa (P-7) production of siderophores was inhibited at concentrations of ZnSO4 and CoCl2 of 2000 mu M, while B. subtilis (BS-1) has increased siderophores production at similar concentrations of CoCl 2 and ZnSO4. The same bacteria have increased the production of siderophores in presence of streptomycine (512 mg/ml). In B. subtilis the production of siderophores was inhibited by cefuroxime. The results show the effect of metals on the efficiency of siderophore production by bacteria for potential application in bioremediation of metalcontaminated iron-deficient soils in the microbial assisted phytoremediation processes. The results include the effect of metals on siderophore production efficiency of the bacteria used for the bioremediation of metal-contaminated soils. In conclusion, it has been found that heavy metals and antibiotics significantly effect the production of siderophores by bacteria.