Ochrobactrum anthropi CTS-325 isolated from a chromium-contaminated site had better resistance to Cr(Ⅵ) in LB medium under aerobic condition.Meanwhile,it was found that the reduction of Cr(Ⅵ) is not complete during the experimental process.Therefore,a series of small molecule energy sources including nitrogen and carbon sources were added into the LB medium in the bacterial stationary phase to promote the chromium reducibility.The result showed that the bacterial growth was positively correlated with the chromium reduction.SDS-PAGE analysis indicated that the protein groups were changed when the bacteria were stimulated by the chromium.Additionally,it was revealed that O.anthropi CTS-325 could utilize the cheaper alternative of sugar(sucrose residue leaching solution) well for further growth and restart the chromium reduction,which offered a new method for practical appli-cations.
A Gram-negative, chromium(Ⅵ) tolerant and reductive strain CTS-325, isolated from a Chinese chromate plant, was identified as Ochrobactrum anthropi based on its biochemical properties and 16S rDNA sequence analysis. It was able to tolerate up to 10 mmol/L Cr(Ⅵ) and completely reduce 1 mmol/L Cr(Ⅵ) to Cr(Ⅲ) within 48 h. When the strain CTS-325 was induced with Cr(Ⅵ), a protein increased significantly in the whole cell proteins. Liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis revealed that this protein was a superoxide dismutase (SOD) homology. The measured superoxide dismutase activity was 2694 U/mg after three steps of purification. The SOD catalyzes the dismutation of the superoxide anion (O2.-) into hydrogen peroxide and molecular oxygen. This protein is considered to be one of the most important anti-oxidative enzymes for O. anthropi as it allows the bacterium to survive high oxygen stress environments, such as the environment produced during the reduction process of Cr(Ⅵ).
