Studies were undertaken to investigate the activity of Superoxide Dismutase (SOD), Catalase (CAT), ATPase and the SOD isoenzyme patterns in a lead resistant bacteria Bacillus cereus isolated from the industrial effluent contaminated with lead. The activities of SOD and CAT in Bacillus cereus increased with increasing concentrations of lead under aerobic conditions, reaching the highest level with 500 mg/l and 10,000 mg/l of lead, respectively. Lead also showed an evident influence on ATPase activity in the bacteria. Two SOD isoenzymes were detected in the bacteria by native PAGE analysis. It is thus presumed that lead causes oxidative stress which increases SOD and CAT activities, and also generates SOD isoenzyme in lead tolerating bacteria to antagonize the oxidative stress.
SOD, CAT, ATPase, Lead, Bacillus cereus
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