Isolation, Identification and biochemical analysis of Mercury Resistant Bacteria (MRB) from the effluent water of Rourkela Steel Plant, Orissa

Abstract

In the present study the waste water effluents from the lagoon inlet of Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) were examined for the presence of mercury resistant bacteria. A total of four heavy metal resistant bacteria were isolated from waste water effluent of RSP and identified by microbiological methods. All the isolates exhibited high resistance to mercury with a minimum inhibitory concentration of 25 ppm. They were found to be multiple mercury resistant when subjected to disc diffusion technique using a 30µg antibiotic tablet. The amount of mercury in the sample was found to be 4325 ppb. Higher activity was found in a strain of Pseudomonas. From the above results it was concluded that the treatment of industrial waste water containing heavy metals like mercury by mercury resistant bacteria may be an appropriate solution for solving the problem of effluent disposal.