Metallotolerants are
extremophile
An extremophile (from Latin ' meaning "extreme" and Greek ' () meaning "love") is an organism that is able to live (or in some cases thrive) in extreme environments, i.e. environments that make survival challenging such as due to extreme temper ...
organism
In biology, an organism () is any living system that functions as an individual entity. All organisms are composed of cells (cell theory). Organisms are classified by taxonomy into groups such as multicellular animals, plants, and ...
s that are able to survive in environments with a high concentration of dissolved
heavy metals. They can be found in environments containing
arsenic
Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As and atomic number 33. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in combination with sulfur and metals, but also as a pure elemental crystal. Arsenic is a metalloid. It has various allotropes, ...
,
cadmium
Cadmium is a chemical element with the symbol Cd and atomic number 48. This soft, silvery-white metal is chemically similar to the two other stable metals in group 12, zinc and mercury. Like zinc, it demonstrates oxidation state +2 in most of ...
,
copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
, and
zinc
Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...
. Known metallotolerants include ''
Ferroplasma
''Ferroplasma'' is a genus of Archaea that belong to the family Ferroplasmaceae. Members of the ''Ferroplasma'' are typically acidophillic, pleomorphic, irregularly shaped cocci.
The archaean family Ferroplasmaceae was first described in the ea ...
'' sp. and ''
Cupriavidus metallidurans
''Cupriavidus metallidurans'' is a non-spore-forming, Gram-negative bacterium which is adapted to survive several forms of heavy metal stress.
As a model and industrial system
It is an ideal subject to study heavy metal disturbance of cell ...
''.
Metallotolerants adapt to their environment by reducing energy loss by excreting less.
''
Sinorhizobium
''Ensifer'' (often referred to in literature by its synonym ''Sinorhizobium'') is a genus of nitrogen-fixing bacteria ( rhizobia), three of which ('' Ensifer meliloti'', ''Ensifer medicae'' and '' Ensifer fredii'') have been sequenced.
Etymolo ...
sp. M14'' is a metallotolerant bacterium.
References
*
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