Biosorption and Bio-Kinetic Properties of Solar Saltern Halobacterial Strains for Managing Zn2+, As2+ and Cd2+ Metals

Halobacteria are extreme halophilic archaeobacteria belonging to the family Halobacteriaceae. Geomicrobiologists are concerned about saline tolerant organisms with metal toxicity and bioremediation. Soil samples of Cape comorin coast were analyzed and the zinc, arsenic and cadmium biosorbent halobacterial strains were isolated. Among the fifty-six halobacterial strains isolated, Halobacterium saccharovorum, Hb. salinarium and Natronobacterium gregoryi showed maximum resistance up to 0.01, 0.001 and 0.001 mM against zinc, arsenic and cadmium, respectively. Biokinetic feature such as maximum specific growth rate (μmax. d−1), the rate of trace metal removal [s], and half velocity constant [Ks] were calculated. The SEM-EDS pictures show the metal uptake of the halobacterial isolates. It assumes that Hb. saccharovorum, Hb. salinarium and Natronobacterium gregoryi isolated from the salt pan of Rajakkamangalam coast Tamilnadu in India can be used as metals bioremident.