%0 Journal Article
%T Evaluation of Biotechnological Potential of Novel Mercury Tolerant Strain of Klebsiella Pneumonia | Insight Medical Publishing
%A Bijesh Kumar Biswal
%A Himadri Gourav Behuria
%A Rashmi Shee
%A Sangam Gupta
%A Santosh Kumar Sahu
%J Journal of Applied Microbiology and Biochemistry
%D 2018
%R 10.21767/2576-1412.100027
%X In order to investigate the effect of elevated mercury pollution on antibiotic tolerance and enzyme activities of human pathogens, we isolated a novel K. pneumoniae strain from the soil of a metallurgical dump yard that was capable of tolerating 250 ¦ÌM HgCl2. Increasing concentration of Hg2+ in growth medium led to increased tolerance of the strain to ampicillin that was accompanied by increased secretion of extracellular polymeric substance (EPS). These results indicate that Hg2+-induced increased synthesis of EPS might be a key factor for increased tolerance of K. pneumoniae to ampicillin. The strain exhibited high catalase, alkaline phosphatase, mercuric reductase, amylase and lipase activity. Presence of 250 ¦ÌM HgCl2 in growth medium increased mercuric reductase activity to 3 fold, however, no significant alteration in catalase, alkaline phosphatase and lipase was observed. The strain retained 86% amylase activity when grown in presence of 250 ¦ÌM Hg2+. However, cell free lysate of the bacterium exhibited sensitivity towards Hg2+ leading to 30 to 40% decrease of these enzyme activities at 250 ¦ÌM Hg2+. These results show that the bacterium possesses cellular mechanism to protect its enzymes from exogenous HgCl2. Our study reveals that increased heavy metal in the environment is a key factor leading to cross resistance of K. pneumoniae against membrane-targeted antibiotics ampicillin. Further, it¡¯s a novel mercury-tolerant strain of K. pneumoniae isolate that exhibits high biotechnological potential for simultaneous bioremediation of mercury and production of industrially important enzymes.
%U http://www.imedpub.com/articles/evaluation-of-biotechnological-potential-of-novel-mercury-tolerant-strain-of-klebsiella-pneumonia.php?aid=23468