Selenate reduction in river water by Citerobacter freundii isolated from a selenium-contaminated sediment.

Bacterial reduction of selenate [Se(VI)] to insoluble elemental Se [Se(0)] is an important remedial technology to remove selenium (Se) from Se-impacted water. Citerobacter freundii, a Se(VI) reducer, isolated from a Se-contaminated sediment was assessed for its ability to reduce Se(VI) in a mineral culture medium and natural river water in a series of laboratory batch experiments. The results showed that a combination of yeast extract and glucose used in the culture medium was more effective than yeast extract alone, yeast extract plus sodium acetate, and yeast extract plus sodium lactate for reduction of Se(VI) to Se(0) by C. freundii. About 89-96% of the added Se(VI) (500-4500 microg/L) was reduced to Se(0) in the culture medium amended with 500 mg/L each of yeast extract and glucose. C. freundii can also survive in natural river water and reduce Se(VI). During an 8-day experiment in both sterile and nonsterile river water, 63-70 and 21-22% of the added Se(VI) was reduced to Se(0) and Se(-II), respectively. These results suggest that C. freundii has great potential for Se(VI) reduction and may be used for remediating Se-impacted water.