A combination of EXAFS, transmission electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray was used to conduct a molecular and atomic analysis of the uranium complexes formed by Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans. The results demonstrate that this bacterium accumulates uranium as phosphate compounds. We suggest that at toxic levels when the uranium enters the bacterial cells, A. ferrooxidans can detoxify and efflux this metal by a process in which its polyphosphate bodies are involved.
Keywords:
EXAFS,
time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy (TRLFS),
transmission electron microscopy (TEM)/energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX),
EDX, energy-dispersive X-ray,
FT, Fourier transform,
TEM, transmission electron microscopy,
TRLFS, time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy
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© 2002 Biochemical Society
2002
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