Isolation of Lactobacillus from Milk: Harnessing its Potential for Bioremediation of City Lakes through Metal Quenching

Rapid development of industrialisation has led to the release of a large number of toxic metals into the environment, especially water bodies. Water pollution in Delhi due to industrial discharge is a major issue for the city. Bioremediation could be a natural, cost-effective method to overcome this problem. Lactic acid bacteria have shown binding with metal ions via adsorption and ion exchange methods. Interactions of Lactobacillus with metal ions and their possible applications have received less attention. In this study, we isolated Lactobacillus bacteria from raw milk samples to study their quenching efficacy for metal salts CuSO4, ZnSO4 and Pb(NO3)2. The results indicated that Lactobacillus very effectively quenched Pb(NO3)2 even at 500 PPM concentration, whereas in the case of CuSO4, the efficacy decreased with increasing salt concentration from 300 to 500 PPM. The bio quenching/biosorption abilities of Lactobacillus will help to formulate natural treatments to decrease metal toxicity from water bodies when upscaled.