title: Biosynthesis and characterization of mercury sulphide nanoparticles produced by Bacillus cereus MRS-1.
abstract: Mercury is a highly toxic heavy metal accumulated in the environment, which can be detoxified by reducing Hg2+ to non toxic form. Bacteria resistant to toxic metals and capable of converting them into non toxic forms have a direct application in the bioremediation of contaminated sites. In this study, mercury resistant strain Bacillus cereus MRS-1 was isolated from electroplating industrial effluent. This strain exhibited the ability to convert mercury into extracellular sulphide nanoparticles of mercury. The recovered HgS nanoparticles have been characterized by UV-VIS spectrophotometer, FT-IR, atomic force microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray analysis, powder X-ray diffraction pattern and thermogravimetric analysis. The synthesized nanoparticles were spherical with a size range of 10-100 nm. This strain can be potentially exploited for the production of HgS nanoparticles as well as for detoxification of mercury in the environment without producing secondary pollution of mercury methylation or Hg (0) volatilization.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, School of Biological Sciences, Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai 625021, India.
authors.forename: Sundararaju
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sathyavathi
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, School of Biological Sciences, Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai 625021, India.
authors.forename: Arumugam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Manjula
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, School of Biological Sciences, Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai 625021, India.
authors.forename: Jeyaprakash
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rajendhran
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, School of Biological Sciences, Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai 625021, India.
authors.forename: Paramasamy
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gunasekaran
mesh_terms: D001409:Bacillus cereus / Q000378:metabolism*; D017669:Mercury Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D053758:Nanoparticles; D013057:Spectrum Analysis / Q000379:methods; D013818:Thermogravimetry
chemical_list: D017669:Mercury Compounds; C034211:cinnabar