Selenium uptake by sulfur-accumulating bacteria

Selenium is a trace metal in many rock-forming minerals but is a major environmental contaminant worldwide. Uptake of selenium by S-accumulating bacteria was examined in both pure cultures of Chromatium vinosum and in co-culture with Desulfovibrio desulfuricans. We used dual cultures including these bacteria to concentrate selenium into intracellular globules. The bacterium D. desulfuricans reduces sulfate [SO42-(aq)] to sulfide [H2S(aq)] and also reduces selenate [SeO42-(aq)] to selenide [H2Se(aq)]. Once reduced, sulfide is enzymatically oxidized and formed into intracellular globules by C. vinosum. We found that the selenium also forms an intercellular solid but the reaction is thermodynamically driven and proceeds by reducing S degrees(s) with H2Se(aq). Relative to the initial molar ratio of selenate and sulfate in the medium, selenium is concentrated 4.5 to 32-fold in the globules. Because solid selenium is so much more stable than sulfur at growth conditions, other S-depositing bacteria, such as Beggiatoa and Chlorobium, should also concentrate selenium via this reaction, providing a strategy for eliminating contamination or for concentrating low natural levels into a usable farm.