Mycobiology (Nov 2023)

Copper Tolerance of Novel Rhodotorula sp. Yeast Isolated from Gold Mining Ore in Gia Lai, Vietnam

  • Kim Cuc Thi Nguyen,
  • Phuc Hung Truong,
  • Cuong Tu Ho,
  • Cong Tuan Le,
  • Khoa Dang Tran,
  • Tien Long Nguyen,
  • Manh Tuan Nguyen,
  • Phu Van Nguyen

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/12298093.2023.2274648
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 51, no. 6
pp. 379 – 387

Abstract

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AbstractIn this study, twenty-five yeast strains were isolated from soil samples collected in the gold mining ore in Gia Lai, Vietnam. Among them, one isolate named GL1T could highly tolerate Cu2+ up to 10 mM, and the isolates could also grow in a wide range of pH (3–7), and temperature (10–40 °C). Dried biomass of GL1 was able to remove Cu2+ effectively up to 90.49% with a maximal biosorption capacity of 18.1 mg/g at pH 6, temperature 30 °C, and incubation time 60 min. Sequence analysis of rDNA indicated this strain was closely related to Rhodotorula mucilaginosa but with 1.53 and 3.46% nucleotide differences in the D1/D2 domain of the 28S rRNA gene and the ITS1-5.8S rRNA gene-ITS2 region sequence, respectively. Based on phylogenetic tree analysis and the biochemical characteristics, the strain appears to be a novel Rhodotorula species, and the name Rhodotorula aurum sp. nov. is proposed. This study provides us with more information about heavy metal-tolerant yeasts and it may produce a new tool for environmental control and metal recovery operations.

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