Uptake of radioiodide by Paenibacillus sp., Pseudomonas sp., Burkholderia sp. and Rhodococcus sp. isolated from a boreal nutrient-poor bog
Merja Lusa
,
Jukka Lehto
,
Hanna Aromaa
,
Jenna Knuutinen
,
Malin Bomberg
DOI:10.1016/j.jes.2015.08.026
Received January 20, 2015,Revised July 22, 2015, Accepted August 06, 2015, Available online February 01, 2016
Volume 28,2016,Pages 26-37
Radionuclides, like radioiodine (129I), may escape deep geological nuclear waste repositories and migrate to the surface ecosystems. In surface ecosystems, microorganisms can affect their movement. Iodide uptake of six bacterial strains belonging to the genera Paenibacillus, Pseudomonas, Burkholderia and Rhodococcus isolated from an acidic boreal nutrient-poor bog was tested. The tests were run in four different growth media at three temperatures. All bacterial strains removed iodide from the solution with the highest efficiency shown by one of the Paenibacillus strains with > 99% of iodide removed from the solution in one of the used growth media. Pseudomonas, Rhodococcus and one of the two Paenibacillus strains showed highest iodide uptake in 1% yeast extract with maximum values for the distribution coefficient (Kd) ranging from 90 to 270 L/kg DW. The Burkholderia strain showed highest uptake in 1% Tryptone (maximum Kd 170 L/kg DW). The Paenibacillus strain V0-1-LW showed exceptionally high uptake in 0.5% peptone + 0.25% yeast extract broth (maximum Kd > 1,000,000 L/kg DW). Addition of 0.1% glucose to the 0.5% peptone + 0.25% yeast extract broth reduced iodide uptake at 4°C and 20°C and enhanced iodide uptake at 37°C compared to the uptake without glucose. This indicates that the uptake of glucose and iodide may be competing processes in these bacteria. We estimated that in in situ conditions of the bog, the bacterial uptake of iodide accounts for approximately 0.1%–0.3% of the total sorption of iodide in the surface, subsurface peat, gyttja and clay layers.
