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Bacterial bioremediation of selenium oxyanions using a dynamic flow bioreactor and headspace analysis

Conference ·
OSTI ID:477271
;  [1]; ;  [2]
  1. Sam Houston State Univ., Huntsville, TX (United States). Dept. of Chemistry
  2. Univ. of Zuerich (Switzerland). Inst. of Plant Biology

The volatile products of the biological reduction and methylation of selenium`s most common oxyanions, selenate and selenite, were determined using capillary gas chromatography and fluorine-induced chemiluminescence detection. Dimethyl selenide and dimethyl diselenide were detected in the headspace above cultures of bacteria resistant to this metalloid using static and dynamic headspace sampling techniques. Fluorine-induced chemiluminescence detection was applied to determine the relative concentrations of the organosulfur and organoselenium species released over many days of culture growth at a controlled temperature and purge rate. A selenium-resistant bacterium, Pseudomonas fluorescens K27, and a phototrophic bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides 2.4.1 were exposed to SeO{sub 4}{sup 2{minus}}, and the cultures` headspaces were examined over a period of several days for volatile selenium-containing products. The results show that the relative production of the volatile species over time depicts a pattern generally independent of the growth phase in the case of the phototrophic bacterium; the concentrations of metabolic dimethyl sulfide and dimethyl selenide determined in static headspace were highest after the microbe had been in stationary phase for 4 days.

OSTI ID:
477271
Report Number(s):
CONF-950483--; ISBN 1-57477-011-X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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