Comment Here's the abstract from the Nature article (Score 1) 143
We have developed a radiation resistant bacterium for the treatment of mixed radioactive wastes containing
ionic mercury. The high cost of remediating radioactive waste sites from nuclear weapons production
has stimulated the development of bioremediation strategies using Deinococcus radiodurans,
the most radiation resistant organism known. As a frequent constituent of these sites is the highly toxic
ionic mercury (Hg) (II), we have generated several D. radiodurans strains expressing the cloned Hg (II)
resistance gene (merA) from Escherichia coli strain BL308. We designed four different expression vectors
for this purpose, and compared the relative advantages of each. The strains were shown to grow in the
presence of both radiation and ionic mercury at concentrations well above those found in radioactive
waste sites, and to effectively reduce Hg (II) to the less toxic volatile elemental mercury. We also demonstrated
that different gene clusters could be used to engineer D. radiodurans for treatment of mixed
radioactive wastes by developing a strain to detoxify both mercury and toluene. These expression systems
could provide models to guide future D. radiodurans engineering efforts aimed at integrating several
remediation functions into a single host.
What the bacteria actually does is detoxify chemical species _in the presence of radioactive waste_ it does not turn radioactive isotopes into stable ones.
ionic mercury. The high cost of remediating radioactive waste sites from nuclear weapons production
has stimulated the development of bioremediation strategies using Deinococcus radiodurans,
the most radiation resistant organism known. As a frequent constituent of these sites is the highly toxic
ionic mercury (Hg) (II), we have generated several D. radiodurans strains expressing the cloned Hg (II)
resistance gene (merA) from Escherichia coli strain BL308. We designed four different expression vectors
for this purpose, and compared the relative advantages of each. The strains were shown to grow in the
presence of both radiation and ionic mercury at concentrations well above those found in radioactive
waste sites, and to effectively reduce Hg (II) to the less toxic volatile elemental mercury. We also demonstrated
that different gene clusters could be used to engineer D. radiodurans for treatment of mixed
radioactive wastes by developing a strain to detoxify both mercury and toluene. These expression systems
could provide models to guide future D. radiodurans engineering efforts aimed at integrating several
remediation functions into a single host.
What the bacteria actually does is detoxify chemical species _in the presence of radioactive waste_ it does not turn radioactive isotopes into stable ones.
