Enhanced uranium immobilization and reduction by Geobacter sulfurreducens biofilms.

Biofilms formed by dissimilatory metal reducers are of interest to develop permeable biobarriers for the immobilization of soluble contaminants such as uranium. Here we show that biofilms of the model uranium-reducing bacterium Geobacter sulfurreducens immobilized substantially more U(VI) than planktonic cells and did so for longer periods of time, reductively precipitating it to a mononuclear U(IV) phase involving carbon ligands. The biofilms also tolerated high and otherwise toxic concentrations (up to 5 mM) of uranium, consistent with a respiratory strategy that also protected the cells from uranium toxicity.

Identification of field caught Anopheles gambiae s.s. and Anopheles arabiensis by TaqMan single nucleotide polymorphism genotyping.

Background: Identification of Anopheles gambiae s.s. and Anopheles arabiensis from field-collected Anopheles gambiae s.