SREL Reprint #2904

Effect of pH on the toxicity of nickel and other divalent metals to Burkholderia cepacia PR1301

Joy D. Van Nostrand1, Andrew G. Sowder2, Paul M. Bertsch2,1, and Pamela J. Morris3,1

1Marine Biomedicine and Environmental Sciences Center, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina 29412, USA
2Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia, Aiken, South Carolina 29802, USA
3Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research and Hollings Marine Laboratory,
U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Charleston, South Carolina 29412

Abstract: Nickel (Ni) is a common cocontaminant at many waste sites where the soils and sediments often are acidic, thereby influencing metal availability. Growth of Burkholderia cepacia PR1301 was not affected at 3.41 mM Ni at pH 5, but was inhibited by 73.2% at pH 6 and inhibited completely at pH 7 compared to growth without Ni. This pH effect was not observed in the Ni-resistant strains, Ralstonia metallidurans CH34 and 31A. Predicted Ni speciation did not explain the observed toxicity trends. Sorption of Ni to PR1 increased with increasing pH (1.49, 1.12, and 3.88 mg Ni/g dry weight at pH 5, 6, and 7, respectively), but was low at all three pH values, and most likely does not explain the observed pH effect. Growth inhibition of PR1 with increasing pH also was observed for other divalent cations, with growth observed at 4.24 mM Co, 2.22 mM Cd, and 3.82 mM Zn at pH 5 and 6, but totally inhibited at pH 7. These studies suggest that, at circumneutral pH, PR1 would be considered sensitive to Ni and other divalent cations, in spite of the ability to grow in higher concentrations at lower pH values.

Keywords: Ralstonia metallidurans CH34, Ralstonia metallidurans 31A, Metal resistance, Metal tolerance, Burkholderia cepacia PR1301

SREL Reprint #2904

Van Nostrand, J. D., A. G. Sowder, P. M. Bertsch, and P.J. Morris. 2005. Effect of pH on the toxicity of nickel and other divalent metals to Burkholderia cepacia PR1301. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 24:2742-2750.

This information was provided by the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (srel.uga.edu).