Published Paper Details:

Thermophiles can be found in almost any ecological niche from fresh and salt water to terrestrial and extreme environments, including metal-contaminated habitats. Most of the strains are able to produce extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) mainly of polysaccharidic nature which serve as biosorbing agents by accumulating nutrients from the surrounding environment and also play a crucial role in biosorption of heavy metals. Structural and compositional characterization of new spp. of Streptococcus thermophilus isolated from hot water spring under stressed and normal conditions were analysed. The structural spectroscopic information was considered together with inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometric (ICP-MS) analytical data on the content of the heavy metal cations (Co2+, Cu2+, Cr2+, Fe2+ Zn2+) in the bacterial cells. As bacteria was able to uptake all the five heavy metals from the culture media in significant amount, the metabolic changes in the bacterium was considerably differentiated by IR spectra. Spectra revealed that chemical compounds of various functional groups were involved during accumulation of these heavy metals.