Effect of copper ions on the associations of Azospirillum bacteria with wheat seedlings (Triticum aestivum L.).

The physiological and biochemical activity of plant-microbial associations enables them to determine the mobility, bioavailability, and accumulation of heavy metals in plant tissues. These abilities are the basis for the use of plants and their associated microorganisms in the development of approaches that ensure both the prevention of the ingress of toxic metals into food crops and the extraction of pollutants from polluted soils by using phytoremediation technologies. Whether plant-microbial complexes are used successfully depends on the knowledge of how specific organisms interact with heavy metals.

Bioremediation potential of a halophilic Halobacillus sp. strain, EG1HP4QL: exopolysaccharide production, crude oil degradation, and heavy metal tolerance.

A halophilic bacterial strain, EG1HP4QL, was isolated from a salt sample from Lake Qarun, Fayoum Province, Egypt. Morphological, physiological, biochemical, and phylogenetic analyses indicated that the strain belonged to the genus Halobacillus. Strain EG1HP4QL produced an extracellular polysaccharide (EPS), with production peaking (5.