Isolation and sequencing of mercury resistance gene in Raoultella planticula bacteria

Subject Areas : Environmental Microbiology

Ashraf Rezaei ¹ , Majid Moghbeli ²

1 - M.Sc, Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Basic Sciences, Damghan branch, Islamic Azad University, Damghan, Iran.
2 - Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Basic Sciences, Damghan branch, Islamic Azad University, Damghan, Iran.

Received: 2016-09-11 Accepted : 2016-11-02 Published : 2017-01-01

Keywords: Mercury, PCR, merA gene, Raoultella planticula,

Abstract :

Background & Objectives: Mercury is one of the polluting sources of the environment, plants as well as human. Microorganisms are resistant to mercury through different mechanisms. The main mechanism involves reduction of the toxic mercury to the elemental form which is mediated through a variety of bacterial genes. The aim of this study is to investigate the presence of mercury resistance gene in Raoultella planticula bacteria using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequencing methods. Materials & Methods: Genomic and plasmid DNA was extracted from wastewater R. planticula isolates. PCR was set up with primers designed based on the presence of mer A gene in Klebsiella oxytoca. The PCR products were sequenced and analyzed using NCBI database. Results: Using PCR on plasmid and genomic bacterial DNA, a 1700 bps bond was obtained. Blasting the sequence, it was found that the amplified gene has 99% sequence homology to merA gene in Enterobacter cloacae, E. coli, Serratia marcescens, Klebsiella oxytoca and Acinetobacter. Conclusion: For the first time in this study, we found that Raoultella planticula isolated from Iran natural sources are resistant to mercury due to the presence of merA gene. Therefore, R. planticula can be considered an appropriate candidate to reduce or remove mercury from industrial wastewaters.

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