title: Combining strains of lactic acid bacteria may reduce their toxin and heavy metal removal efficiency from aqueous solution.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The primary objective of this study was to compare the removal of cadmium, lead, aflatoxin B1 and microcystin-LR from aqueous solution by Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG, L. rhamnosus LC705, Propionibacterium freudenreichii shermanii JS and Bifidobacterium breve Bbi99/E8, separately and in combination.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The removal of toxins and heavy metals was assessed in batch experiments. The removal of all compounds was observed to be strain specific. The removal of lead by a combination of all the strains used was observed to be lower than could be predicted from the removal by single strains (P < 0.05). A similar trend was also observed with the other compounds studied.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results show that the toxin-removal capacity of a combination of strains of lactic acid bacteria is not the sum of their individual capacities. Therefore, pure single strains should be used when the goal is to remove single compounds. The use of combinations of strains may be beneficial when several compounds are removed together. This needs to be studied in future experiments.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Lactic acid bacteria have been identified as potent tools for the decontamination of heavy metals, cyanotoxins and mycotoxins. The results of this study should be considered when selecting combinations of bacteria for the simultaneous removal of several toxic compounds.
authors.affiliation: University of Turku, Functional Foods Forum, Turku, Finland. teemu.halttunen@utu.fi
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Halttunen
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Collado
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: El-Nezami
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Meriluoto
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Salminen
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism*; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000378:metabolism*; D001644:Bifidobacterium / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D017753:Ecosystem; D007778:Lactobacillus / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000378:metabolism*; D011424:Propionibacterium / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D014871:Water Microbiology
chemical_list: D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D019216:Metals, Heavy