Simultaneous conversion of chromium and malachite green coexists in halophilic bacterium Halomonas xianhensis SUR308 isolated from a solar saltern

Many industries are known to use heavy metals like chromium (Cr) to fix dyes in the fabrication processes and malachite green (MG) as colorant. Alkalinity, elevated temperature, or salinity of the industrial effluents makes conventional physicochemical removal of MG and hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)] more difficult to apply and demands to perceive potential cost-effective and environment-friendly treatment methods to eliminate or convert them into less toxic compounds. Here, we report simultaneous removal and bioconversion of MG and Cr(VI) by a halophilic biofilm-forming bacterium Halomonas xianhensis SUR308. It can efficiently produce exopolysaccharides as extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and form biofilm under oxygen limiting condition. The reduction of hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)] to trivalent chromium [Cr(III)] is about 100%, and 95% after 84 h of growth in shaken and stagnant culture, respectively. The strain completely decolorizes MG after 48 h of growth in shaken culture. Furthermore, we found that strain SUR308 can efficiently detoxify chromium by reduction and degrades MG via producing various intermediate products simultaneously. Most interestingly, such conversions can also take place in alkaline environment and in environment where substantial amount of salt is present. These unique features of strain SUR308 make it suitable for the simultaneous remediation of toxic heavy metals and hazardous dye even from the environment having higher pH and salinity. The detail molecular mechanism of the bioconversion with its application in open environment would be the future research focus for bioprospecting strain SUR308.

Automated summary

In this study, we report the simultaneous removal and bioconversion of malachite green and hexavalent chromium by a halophilic biofilm-forming bacterium Halomonas xianhensis SUR308. The strain is capable of efficiently detoxifying and degrading these contaminants, even in alkaline and high-salinity environments.