Author(s): Akanksha

Abstract: With the active spread and development of the industries, heavy metals, such as cadmium, nickel, lead, chromium, arsenic etc, the well-known components of industrial effluents, are directly or indirectly discharged into the environment and consequently pollute the ecosystem. The presence of these heavy metals in the ecosystem has been a subject of great concern due to their non-biodegradable nature, toxicity and long biological half-lives hindering their removal from biological tissues. This investigation is focused on isolation, identification and characterization of heavy metal resistant bacteria from iron industry soil. The soil samples were collected from ISA Steel Private Limited Company in Gulaothi, (Bulandshahr). Nine bacterial strains were isolated from the soil and characterized on the basis of morphological, physiological and biochemical characteristics. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the isolates was studied by which Fe, Pb, Cu, Zn, and Co tolerance was found highest in Proteus mirabilis Strain 3, (61.97%); Serratia marcescens Strain 4, (99.56%) and Escherichia coli Strain 8, (94.66%) respectively in bacterial isolates grown in nutrient media and supplemented with heavy metal. The identified heavy metal resistant bacteria could be effective and useful for the bioremediation of heavy metal contaminated soil.