Molecular Identification of Hg-Resistant Bacteria and Their Potential in Reducing Mercury Contamination

Abstract

The aim of this research was to obtain and determine the identity of Hg-resistant bacteria in soil contaminated with gold processing waste and test its ability to reduce mercury contamination. Soil samples as a source of Hg resistant bacterial isolates were obtained from the gold processing location in Ilangata Village, Anggrek District, North Gorontalo Regency. The research was conducted at the Microbiology Laboratory, Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. Mercury analysis was carried out at the Laboratory of Fisheries Product Quality Development and Testing (LPPMHP), Gorontalo Province, and bacterial identification was carried out at the Hasanuddin University Medical Research Center Research Unit. The parameters observed were the types of Hg resistant bacteria and the ability of the bacteria to reduce mercury contamination. The results showed that there were four bacterial isolates on the soil contaminated with 4.5 ppm mercury, which were named ILb01, ILB02, ILb03, and ILb04. Molecular identification showed that ILb01 was closely related to Stenotrophomonas sp. SB67 and ILb02 close to Enterobacter cloacae strain CM 1, these strains were not resistant to mercury contamination; while ILb03 which is similar to strain BS0591 and ILb04 which is similar to Bacterium Bacillus albus strain SQ30 16S could be resistant and was able to reduce mercury contamination by 99% at 10 ppm levels. Key words: heavy metals, Hg-resistant bacteria, molecular identification, mercury