Abstract
Samples of soil, water, and sediments from industrial estates in Lagos were collected and analyzed for heavy metals and physicochemical composition. Bacteria that are resistant to elevated concentrations of metals (Cd2 + , Co2 + , Ni2 + , Cr6 + , and Hg2 + ) were isolated from the samples, and they were further screened for antibiotic sensitivity. The minimum tolerance concentrations (MTCs) of the isolates with dual resistance to the metals were determined. The physicochemistry of all the samples indicated were heavily polluted. Twenty-two of the 270 bacterial strains isolated showed dual resistances to antibiotics and heavy metals. The MTCs of isolates to the metals were 14 mM for Cd2 + , 15 mM for Co2 + and Ni2 + , 17 mM for Cr6 + , and 10 mM for Hg2 + . Five strains (Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Actinomyces turicensis, Acinetobacter junni, Nocardia sp., and Micrococcus sp.) resisted all the 18 antibiotics tested. Whereas Rhodococcus sp. and Micrococcus sp. resisted 15 mM Ni2 + , P. aeruginosa resisted 10 mM Co2 + . To our knowledge, there has not been any report of bacterial strains resisting such high doses of metals coupled with wide range of antibiotics. Therefore, dual expressions of antibiotics and heavy-metal resistance make the isolates, potential seeds for decommissioning of sites polluted with industrial effluents rich in heavy metals, since the bacteria will be able to withstand in situ antibiosis that may prevail in such ecosystems.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Akpan, E. R., Ekpe, U. J., & Ibok, U. J. (2002). Heavy metal trends in the Calabar River, Nigeria. Environmental Geology, 42, 47–51.
Alonso, A., Sanchez, P., & Martinez, J. L. (2000). Stenotrophomonas maltophilia D457R contains a cluster of genes from gram-positive bacteria involved in antibiotic and heavy-metal resistance. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 44, 1778–1782.
AOAC (1990). Official methods of analysis. Washington DC: Association of Official Analytical Chemists.
Aremu, D. A., Olawunji, J. F., Meshitsuka, S., Sridhar, M. K., & Olawunde, P. A. (2002). Heavy metal analysis of ground water from Warri, Nigeria. International Journal of Environmental Health Research, 12(3), 261–267.
Avery, S. V. (1995). Cesium accumulation by microorganisms: Uptake mechanisms, cation competition, compactmentalisation and toxicity. Journal of Industrial Microbiology, 14, 76–84.
Ben Said, O., Goñi-Urriza, M. S., El Bour, M., Dellali, M., Aissa, P., & Duran, R. (2007). Characterization of aerobic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria from Bizerte lagoon sediments, Tunisia. Journal of Applied Microbiology, 104, 987–997.
Calomiris, J. J., Armstrong, J. L., & Seidler, R. J. (1984). Association of metal tolerance with multiple antibiotic resistance of bacteria isolated from drinking water. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 47(6), 1238–1242.
Clausen, C. A. (2000). Isolating metal-tolerant bacteria capable of removing copper, chromium, and arsenic from treated wood. Waste Management and Research, 18, 264–268.
Cowan, S. T., & Steel, K. J. (1994). Manual for the Identification of Medical Bacteria. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
De Vicente, A., Aviles, M., Codina, J. C., Borrego, J. J., & Romero, P. (1990). Resistance to antibiotics and heavy metals of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from natural waters. Journal of Applied Bacteriology, 68, 625–632.
Dressler, C., Kues, U., Nies, D. H., & Friedrich, B. (1991). Determinants encoding resistance to several heavy metals in newly isolated copper-resistant bacteria. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 57, 3079–3085.
Eaton, A. D., Clesceri, L. S., & Greenberg, A. E. (1995). Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater (19th Ed.). Baltimore: United Books.
Fakayode, S., & Onianwa, P. (2002). Heavy metal contamination of soil, and bioaccumulation in Guinea grass (Panicum maximum) around Ikeja Industrial Estate, Lagos, Nigeria. Environmental Geology, 43, 145–150.
Gadd, G. M., & White, C. (1993). Microbial treatment of metal pollution—a working biotechnology? Trends in Biotechnology, 11(8), 353–359.
Groves, D. J., Short, H., Thewaini, A. J., & Young, F. E. (1975). Epidemiology of antibiotic and heavy-metal resistance in bacteria: Resistance patterns in Staphylococci isolated from populations in Iraq exposed and not exposed to heavy metals or antibiotics. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 7, 622–628.
Holt, J. G., Krieg, N. R., Sneath, P. H. A., Stanley, J. T., & William, S. T. (1994). Bergey’s manual of determinative bacteriology. Baltimore: William and Wilkins.
Howlett, N. G., & Avery, S. V. (1997). Induction of lipid peroxidation during heavy metal stress in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and influence of plasma membrane fatty acid unsaturation. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 63, 2971–2976.
Kimiran-Erdem, A., Arslan, E. O., Yurudu, N. O. S., Zeybek, Z., Dogruoz, N., & Cotuk, A. (2007). Isolation and identification of enterococci from seawater samples: Assessment of their resistance to antibiotics and heavy metals. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 125, 219–228.
Lovley, D. R. (1994). Microbial reduction of iron, manganese and other metals. Advanced Agronomy, 54, 175–231.
Nakahara, H., Ishikawa, T., Sarai, Y., Kondo, I., Kuzuke, H., & Silver, S. (1977). Linkage of mercury, cadmium and arsenate and drug resistance in clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 33, 975–976.
Nakatsu, C. H., Carmosini, N., Baldwin, B., Beasley, F., Kourtev, P., & Konopka, A. (2005). Soil microbial community responses to additions of organic carbon substrates and heavy metals (Pb and Cr). Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 71(12), 7679–7689.
Nascimento, A. M. A., & Chartone-Souza, E. (2003). Operon mer: bacterial resistance to mercury and potential for bioremediation of contaminated environments. Genetics and Molecular Research, 2(1), 92–101.
Nelson, D. W., & Sommers, L. E. (1982). Total carbon, organic carbon, and organic matter. In A. L. Page, R. H. Miller, D. R. Keeney (Eds.), Methods of soil analysis, Part 2, chemical and microbiological properties. 2nd ed. Agronomy Monogram 9 (pp. 539–580). Madison: American Society of Agronomy and Soil Science of America.
Nies, D. H. (1999). Microbial heavy-metal resistance. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 51(6), 730–750.
Odokuma, L. O., & Okpokwasili, G. C. (1993). Seasonal ecology of hydrocarbon-utilizing microbes in the surface waters of a river. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 27(3), 175–191.
Olajire, A. A. (1998). A survey of heavy metal deposition in Nigeria using the moss monitoring method. Environment International, 8, 951–958.
Otchere, F. A. (2003). Heavy metals concentrations and burden in the bivalves (Anadara (Senilia) senilis, Crassostrea tulipa and Perna perna) from lagoons in Ghana: model to describe mechanism of accumulation/excretion. African Journal of Biotechnology, 2, 280–287.
Osuji, L. C., & Onojake, C. M. (2004). Trace heavy metals associated with crude oil: A case study of Ebocha-8 oil-spill-polluted site in Niger Delta, Nigeria. Chemistry and Biodiversity, 1, 1708–1715.
Oyeyiola, A. O., Olayinka, K. O., & Alo, B. I. (2006). Correlation studies of heavy metals concentration with sediment properties of some rivers surrounding the Lagos Lagoon. Nigerian Journal of Health and Biomedical Sciences, 5, 118–122.
Pazirandeh, M., Wells, B., & Ryan, R. L. (1998). Development of bacterium-based heavy metal biosorbents: Enhanced uptake of cadmium and mercury by Escherichia coli expressing a metal binding motif. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 64, 4068–4072.
Raja, C. E., Anbazhagan, K., & Selva, G. S. (2006). Isolation and characterization of a metal-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain. World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology, 22, 577–585.
Ravel, J., Schrempf, H., & Hill, R. T. (1998). Mercury resistance is encoded by transferrable giant linear plasmids in two Chesapeake Bay Streptomyces strains. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 64, 3383–3388.
Rittle, K. A., Drever, J. L., & Colberg, P. J. S. (1995). Precipitation of arsenic during bacterial sulfate reduction. Geomicrobiologie Journal, 13, 1–11.
Said, W. A., & Lewis, D. L. (1991). Quantitative assessment of the effects of metals on microbial degradation of organic chemicals. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 57, 1498–1503.
Sandrin, T. R., Chech, A. M., & Maier, R. M. (2000). A rhamnolipid biosurfactant reduces cadmium toxicity during biodegradation of naphthalene. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 66, 4585–4588.
Sant’ana, Y. X., Chartone-Souza, E., & Ferreira, M. D. (1989). Drug resistance and colicinogeny of Salmonella typhimurium strains isolated from sewagecontaminated surface water and humans in Belo Horizonte. Revista de Microbiologia, 20, 41–49.
Sarmah, A. K., Meyer, M. T., & Boxall, A. B. A. (2006). A global perspective on the use, sales, exposure pathways, occurrence, fate and effects of veterinaryantibiotics (VAs) in the environment. Chemosphere, 65, 725–759.
Silva, A. A. L. E., & Hofer, E. (1993). Resistance to antibiotics and heavy metals in Escherichia coli from marine fish. Environmental Toxicology and Water Quality, 8, 1–11.
Spain, A. (2003). Implications of microbial heavy metal tolerance in the environment. Reviews in Undergraduate Research, 2, 1–6.
Sprocati, T., Ronchi, P., Raimond, A., Francolini, M., & Borgese, N. (2006). Dynamic and reversible restructuring of the ER induced by PDMP in cultured. Journal of Cell Science, 119, 3249–3260.
Stephen, J. R., Chang, Y., Macnaughton, S. J., Kowalchuk, G. A., Leung, K. T., Flemming, C. A., et al. (1999). Effect of toxic metals on indigenous soil β-subgroup Proteobacterium ammonia oxidizer community structure and protection against toxicity by inoculated metal-resistant bacteria. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 65, 95–101.
Turpeinen, R., Kairesalo, T., & Haggblom, M. M. (2004). Microbial community structure and activity in arsenic-, chromium- and copper-contaminated soils. FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 47, 39–50.
Valentine, N. B., Bolton, H. Jr., Kingsley, M. T., Drake, G. R., Balkwill, D. L., & Blymale, A. E. (1996). Biosorption of cadmium, cobalt, nickel, and strontium by a Bacillus simplex strain isolated from the vadose zone. Journal of Industrial Microbiology, 16, 189–196.
Wong, Y., & Yu, J. (1999). Laccase-catalysed decolorization of synthetic dyes. Water Research, 33(16), 3512–3520.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Oyetibo, G.O., Ilori, M.O., Adebusoye, S.A. et al. Bacteria with dual resistance to elevated concentrations of heavy metals and antibiotics in Nigerian contaminated systems. Environ Monit Assess 168, 305–314 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-009-1114-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-009-1114-3