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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, June 2000, p. 2451-2460, Vol. 66, No. 6
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory,
Richland, Washington 99352
Received 1 July 1999/Accepted 15 February 2000
To help provide a fundamental basis for use of microbial
dissimilatory reduction processes in separating or immobilizing
99Tc in waste or groundwaters, the effects of electron
donor and the presence of the bicarbonate ion on the rate and extent of pertechnetate ion [Tc(VII)O4
0099-2240/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Effect of Electron Donor and Solution Chemistry on
Products of Dissimilatory Reduction of Technetium by
Shewanella putrefaciens
] enzymatic
reduction by the subsurface metal-reducing bacterium Shewanella
putrefaciens CN32 were determined, and the forms of aqueous and
solid-phase reduction products were evaluated through a combination of
high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, X-ray absorption
spectroscopy, and thermodynamic calculations. When H2
served as the electron donor, dissolved Tc(VII) was rapidly reduced to
amorphous Tc(IV) hydrous oxide, which was largely associated with the
cell in unbuffered 0.85% NaCl and with extracellular particulates (0.2 to 0.001 µm) in bicarbonate buffer. Cell-associated Tc was present
principally in the periplasm and outside the outer membrane. The
reduction rate was much lower when lactate was the electron donor, with
extracellular Tc(IV) hydrous oxide the dominant solid-phase reduction
product, but in bicarbonate systems much less Tc(IV) was associated
directly with the cell and solid-phase Tc(IV) carbonate may have been
present. In the presence of carbonate, soluble (<0.001 µm)
electronegative, Tc(IV) carbonate complexes were also formed that
exceeded Tc(VII)O4
in electrophoretic
mobility. Thermodynamic calculations indicate that the dominant reduced
Tc species identified in the experiments would be stable over a range
of Eh and pH conditions typical of natural waters. Thus,
carbonate complexes may represent an important pathway for Tc transport
in anaerobic subsurface environments, where it has generally been
assumed that Tc mobility is controlled by low-solubility Tc(IV) hydrous
oxide and adsorptive, aqueous Tc(IV) hydrolysis products.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Environmental
Science Research Center, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, P.O. Box 999, Richland, WA 99352. Phone: (509) 376-5680. Fax: (509) 376-9650. E-mail: r.wildung{at}pnl.gov.
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