Thorgersen, M.P.; X. Ge, F.L. Poole II, M.N. Price, A.P. Arkin and M.W.W. Adams (2019) Nitrate-Utilizing Microorganisms Resistant to Multiple Metals from the Heavily Contaminated Oak Ridge Reservation. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. [doi]:1128/AEM.00896-19{PMID}:31253673 PMCID:PMC6696972 OSTI:1650072
Multiple metal-resistant microorganisms were isolated from ORR environmental samples using contaminating environment relevant metal concentrations.
Characterization of nitrate-reducing metal-resistant strains revealed a diversity of pH, C-source, and metal concentration preferences, however all strains were able to reduce nitrate in the presence of multiple contaminating metals.
Four of the strains were matched to multiple ORR groundwater wells by exact 16S RNA sequence variant and all four were found in both non-contaminated and contaminated areas.