Isolation and Characterization of Lead (Pd) Resistant Staphylococcus aureus from Tannery Effluent Contaminated Site

The present study deals with isolation, identification and characterization of heavy metal resistant bacteria isolated from effluent of Ezar Tanneries, Vaniyambadi, Vellore district, South India. Initially, a total of 11 bacterial isolates were screened on Luria Bertani (LB) agar plates supplemented with 5 mg/l concentration of five different heavy metal ions such as Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn separately. A best microorganism was selected based on high level of heavy metal tolerance. On the basis of morphological, biochemical characterization, the isolates were identified as Staphylococcus aureus. The identified isolates were resistant to Cu and Pb. Staphylococcus aureus showed optimum growth at 30°C and pH 6.5. The identified heavy metal resistant Staphylococcus aureus could be useful for the bioremediation of heavy metal contaminated sewage and waste water.