Investigations of the interactions of subsurface living microorganisms with uranium

Actually the former uranium mine Königstein (Saxony, Germany) is in process of controlled flooding. Despite the high uranium concentrations of up to 14 mg/L and the low pH of 3,0 a high biodiversity was detected within this flooding water. Microorganisms are very important for bioremediation of uranium contaminated environments from activities such as uranium mining and extraction or fuel fabrication. Due to their ability to interact with radionuclides and heavy metals microorganisms could help to clean up the contaminated water in Königstein. With a culture dependent method it was possible to isolate different microorganisms from the flooding water. Tolerance tests displayed high resistances to uranium of these natural isolates. Furthermore uranium immobilization experiments show high rates of uranium binding to the cells. Some of the isolates are able to remove nearly 100% of the initial added uranium. TEM analysis showed two different interaction mechanisms, biosorption to the cell membrane and bioaccumulation within the cell.