title: [Ecological consequences of radioactive pollution for soil bacteria within the 10-km region around the Chernobyl Atomic Energy Station].
abstract: The diversity of aerobic chemoorganotrophic (capable of growing on nutrient agar) bacteria in radioactive soil (0.3-17.0 microCi/kg soil) sampled in the 10-km zone around the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (CNPP) was found to be lower than that observed in control, uncontaminated soil with a radioactivity of 0.002-0.006 microCi/kg soil. All the radioactive soil samples contained the bacteria Bacillus cereus and Methylobacterium extorquens or M. mesophillicum, which exhibited a high tolerance to 0.3-1.0 M hydrogen peroxide, whose action can to a certain extent simulate the effect of ionizing radiation. Some of the contaminated soil samples contained other species of chemoorganotrophic bacteria with a low tolerance to H2O2. The survival of bacteria in the Chernobyl accident zone is probably due to the functioning of mechanisms efficiently neutralizing peroxide compounds and repairing radiation-damaged DNA. The population of cellulolytic, nitrifying, and sulfate-reducing bacteria in contaminated soil was found to be 1-2 orders of magnitude less than in control soil, indicating the unfavorable effect of anthropogenic radiation on the abundance and diversity of soil bacteria.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Microbiology and Virology, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kiev, Ukraine.
authors.forename: V A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Romanovskaia
authors.forename: I G
authors.initials: IG
authors.lastname: Sokolov
authors.forename: P V
authors.initials: PV
authors.lastname: Rokitko
authors.forename: N A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Chernaia
mesh_terms: D001409:Bacillus cereus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development / Q000528:radiation effects; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D016946:Gram-Negative Aerobic Rods and Cocci / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development / Q000528:radiation effects; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide / Q000494:pharmacology; D011210:Power Plants; D018788:Radioactive Hazard Release; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D012990:Soil Pollutants, Radioactive; D014455:Ukraine
chemical_list: D012990:Soil Pollutants, Radioactive; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide
vernacular_title: Ekologicheskie posledstviia radioaktivnogo zagriazneniia dlia pochvennykh bakteriĭ v 10-km zone ChAES.