Interaction of uranium with halophilic microorganisms

Rock salts are considered as potential host rocks for the long-term storage of highly radioactive waste in a deep geological repository. In addition to bacteria and fungi, extremely halophilic archaea, e.g. Halobacterium species, are predominantly present in this habitat. For long-term risk assessment it is of high interest to study how these microorganisms can potentially interact with radionuclides if the radionuclides are released from the waste repository. Given this fact, the interactions of extremely halophilic archaea from the genus Halobacterium and the moderately halophilic bacterium Brachybacterium sp. G1 with uranium, one of the major radionuclides of concern in the geological repository of radioactive wastes, were investigated in detail in batch experiments. The archaea and the bacterium showed different association mechanisms with uranium. Brachybacterium sp. G1 cells sorbed uranium within a short time, whereas a much longer and a multi-stage bioassociation process, dependent on the uranium concentration, occurred with the archaea. Furthermore, a multi-spectroscopic (time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy and X-ray absorption spectroscopy) and -microscopic (scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray analysis for elemental mapping) approach was used to elucidate the U(VI) bioassociation behavior. By using these spectroscopic and microscopic tools, the formation of a U(VI) phosphate mineral, such as meta-autunite, by the Halobacterium species was demonstrated. These findings offer new insights into the microbe-actinide interactions at highly saline conditions relevant to the disposal of nuclear waste.