Abstrakt

Hexavalent Chromium Reduction by Anoxybacillus rupiensis isolated From Hot Water Spring of Dhapoli, Maharashtra, India

Gursahani YH* and Gupta SG

A novel thermophile, aerobic, Gram positive, spore forming bacterium isolated from hot water springs of Dhapoli, Maharashtra; India. The isolate was able to ferment a wide spectrum of sugars, polyols, and polysaccharides like xylan, glycogen and starch. Optimal growth was observed at 60°C, and pH at 6.5. Phylogenetic analysis of the whole 16S rRNA gene sequence clustered the strain T4 with the representatives of the genus Anoxybacillus and with Geobacillus tepidamans. The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 41.7%. Fatty acid profile (major fatty acids iso-C15:0 and iso-C17:0) confirmed the affiliation of the strain to the genus Anoxybacillus. Anoxybacillus rupiensis showed 75% of Cr (VI) reduction after 24 hours of incubation. Our results have confirmed that Anoxybacillus rupiensis is one of the most prominent thermophiles that could be exploited for the treatment of chromium bearing effluents.