The effects of K+ growth conditions on the accumulation of cesium by the bacterium Thermus sp. TibetanG6.

The accumulation of cesium by the bacterium Thermus sp. TibetanG6 was examined under different K+ growth conditions. The effects of external pH and Na+ on the accumulation of cesium were also studied, and the mechanism involved was discussed. K+ regimes played an important role in the accumulation of cesium by the strain TibetanG6. The quantity of cesium accumulated (24 h) was much higher in K+-deficient regime than that in K+-sufficient regime. The pH and Na+ had different effects on the accumulation of cesium in the two K+ regimes. IR spectra analyses indicated that the biosorption is a process of homeostasis with cesium initially accumulated on the cell wall.