• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.125-130
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• 1997

Microbial reduction of hexava1ent(VI) to trivalent(lII) chromium is regarded as one of the mechanisms that confers resistance to bacteria. In order to verify this hypothesis, we compared Cr(VI) resistance with Cr(VI) reduction among 20 phenotypically distinct environmental isolates from Cr-contaminated and uncontaminated soils. With glucose as an electron donor, Cr(VI) reduction by washed cell suspensions ranged from 0.014 to 0.305 mM Cr(VI) reduced $h^1$. Cr(VI) resistance of the isolates were measured by growth inhibitions on a liquid medium containing 2 mM Cr(VI) based on their decrease of $A_{630}1$ as compared to the controls without Cr(VI). The isolates had a broad range of resistance from no inhibition to 93.4% inhibition of their growth. Upon correlation analysis, there was no significant relationship between those two phenomena. At a population level, a comparison of % resistant viable counts among the Cr-contaminated and uncontaminated soils showed 19.1 % and 0.4% of their total viable counts, respectively. The difference of % resistance between two site,. strongly suggested that the Cr(VI) present in the soils influences natural selection for resistant phenotypes. However, it is unlikely that the Cr(VI) resistance is dependent solely on the reduction as judged by the correlation analysis.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.8
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• pp.1123-1132
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• 2013

The removal of toxic Cr(VI) by microorganisms is a promising approach for Cr(VI) pollution remediation. In the present study, four indigenous bacteria, named LY1, LY2, LY6, and LY7, were isolated from Cr(VI)-contaminated soil. Among the four Cr(VI)-resistant isolates, strain LY6 displayed the highest Cr(VI)-removing ability, with 100 mg/l Cr(VI) being completely removed within 144 h. It could effectively remove Cr(VI) over a wide pH range from 5.5 to 9.5, with the optimal pH of 8.5. The amount of Cr(VI) removed increased with initial Cr(VI) concentration. Data from the time-course analysis of Cr(VI) removal by strain LY6 followed first-order kinetics. Based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence, strain LY6 was identified as Pseudochrobactrum asaccharolyticum, a species that had never been reported for Cr(VI) removal before. Transmission electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis further confirmed that strain LY6 could accumulate chromium within the cell while conducting Cr(VI) removal. The results suggested that the indigenous bacterial strain LY6 would be a new candidate for potential application in Cr(VI) pollution bioremediation.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.547-554
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• 2012

Chromium is generated from several industrial processes. It occurs in different oxidation states, but Cr(III) and Cr(VI) are the most common ones. Cr(VI) is a toxic, soluble environmental contaminant. Some bacteria are able to reduce hexavalent chromium to the insoluble and less toxic Cr(III), and thus chromate bioremediation is of considerable interest. An indigenous chromium-reducing bacterial strain, Rb-2, isolated from a tannery water sample, was identified as Ochrobactrum intermedium, on the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The influence of factors like temperature of incubation, initial concentration of Cr, mobility of bacteria, and different carbon sources were studied to test the ability of the bacterium to reduce Cr(VI) under variable environmental conditions. The ability of the bacterial strain to reduce hexavalent chromium in artificial and industrial sewage water was evaluated. It was observed that the mechanism of resistance to metal was not due to the change in the permeability barrier of the cell membrane, and the enzyme activity was found to be inductive. Intracellular reduction of Cr(VI) was proven by reductase assay using cell-free extract. Scanning electron microscopy revealed chromium precipitates on bacterial cell surfaces, and transmission electron microscopy showed the outer as well as inner distribution of Cr(VI). This bacterial strain can be useful for Cr(VI) detoxification under a wide range of environmental conditions.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.690-698
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• 2012

Cr-B2, a Gram-negative hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)] reducing bacteria, was isolated from the aerator water of an activated sludge process in the wastewater treatment facility of a dye and pigment based chemical industry. Cr-B2 exhibited a resistance for 1,100 mg/l Cr(VI) and, similarly, resistance against other heavy metal ions such as $Ni^{2+}$ (800 mg/l), $Cu^{2+}$ (600 mg/l), $Pb^{2+}$ (1,100 mg/l), $Cd^{2+}$ (350 mg/l), $ZN^{2+}$ (700 mg/l), and $Fe^{3+}$ (1,000 mg/l), and against selected antibiotics. Cr-B2 was observed to efficiently reduce 200 mg/l Cr(VI) completely in both nutrient and LB media, and could convert Cr(VI) to Cr(III) aerobically. Cr(VI) reduction kinetics followed allosteric enzyme kinetics. The $K_m$ values were found to be 43.11 mg/l for nutrient media and 38.05 mg/l for LB media. $V_{max}$ values of 13.17 mg/l/h and 12.53 mg/l/h were obtained for nutrient media and LB media, respectively, and the cooperativity coefficients (n) were found to be 8.47 and 3.49, respectively, indicating positive cooperativity in both cases. SEM analysis showed the formation of wrinkles and depressions in the cells when exposed to 800 mg/l Cr(VI) concentration. The organism was seen to exhibit pleomorphic behavior. Cr-B2 was identified on the basis of morphological, biochemical, and partial 16S rRNA gene sequencing chracterizations and found to be Acinetobacter sp.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.9 no.7
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• pp.1036-1042
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• 1998

It was investigated that the extraction of Cr(VI) from aqueous solution into the organic TDA and the stripping(back extraction) of Cr(VI) from the Cr(VI)-TDA complex into NaOH aqueous solution by hydrophobic hollow fiber membrane. It was found that the mass transfer rates of stripping process were smaller than those of the extraction process. This result was expected that membrane resistance, neglected in the extraction process, acts on the stripping process when organic phase flow in the tube side of the hydrophobic membrane. Hollow fiber modules were made by potting the desired number(60, 100, 150, 300fibers). We also examined the effect of flow rates of aqueous and organic phase on the mass transfer rate in the membrane modules. From these experiments, we identified for the extraction process by using hydrophobic membrane, the effect of flow rate of aqueous phase on the mass transfer rate was significant, but that of organic phase was negligible one. In the stripping process, however, mass transfer rate depend neither flow rate of aqueous(stripping solution) phase nor that of organic(Cr-TDA complex) phase.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Marine Engineers Conference
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• 2006.06a
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• pp.271-272
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• 2006

Zinc confers high corrosion resistance by acting as a sacrificial anode, and a zinc coating improves the appearance of steel. Chromate conversion coating (CCC) films are still one of the most efficient surface treatments for steel. Although such films can self-repair via the dissolution of Cr(VI), dissolved Cr(VI) have adverse effects on humans, and the environment. Therefore, we examined the corrosion protection property and morphology of colloidal silica conversion films as an alternative to CCC films. The corrosion behavior was investigated in 3% NaCl solution using electrochemical techniques, including electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, open circuit potential, and the salt spray test(SST). Corrosion was implied by the appearance of red rust on the specimen surface. In corrosion resistance at 3% NaCl solution, red rust appeared at 15-20, 55-70, and 83-98 days on Zn-electroplated steel, colloidal silica conversion-coated specimens, and CCC-coated specimens, respectively. In the salt spray test, the colloidal silica film provided better corrosion protection than CCC films, i.e., red rust appeared at 96 hours on the Zn-electroplated steel sheet, at 432 hours with the CCC films, and at 888 hours with silica conversion coating.