Chandana N^1,, K Divya Sai Laxmi², P. Hari Prasad Reddy², K. Narasimhulu²

Environmental contamination by toxic metals is a serious problem worldwide due to their incremental accumulation in the food chain and continued persistence in the ecosystem. Conventional technologies, such as ion exchange or lime precipitation, are often ineffective and/or expensive, particularly for the removal of heavy metal ions. The use of microorganisms to destroy, or reduce the concentration of, hazardous waste on a contaminated site is called bioremediation. Such a biological treatment system has various applications, including, cleanup of contaminated sites such as water, soils, sludge, and waste streams. In the present study, bacteria are isolated from effluent collected from an industry located around Hyderabad. An indigenous microbial specie that have high resistance to Lead have been isolated from the wastewater sample which was characterized and identified as Staphylococcus species. Maximum Lead tolerance up to 1000mg/l was evidenced by isolated staphylococcus species, Effect of pH on Lead degradation by Staphylococcus shows the rate of Lead removal was maximum at pH 6, optimum temperature of 30°C and incubation time at 48 hours. Effect of initial metal concentration on Lead degradation by Staphylococcus shows the rate of Lead degradation was constantly high until 300 mg/l and then after it decreased. Under optimum process conditions Staphylococcus is able to degrade Lead up to 83% in 48 hours..

bioremediation, lead resistant bacteria, industrial bioremediation, industrial effluent toxicity