Evaluation of cadmium tolerance and remediated efficacy of wild and mutated Enterobacter species isolated from potassium nitrate (KNO₃) processing unit contaminated soil.

The purpose of this study was to find the most cadmium (Cd2+) tolerant and remediated bacteria isolate from KNO3 processing unit contaminated soil. One isolate out of 19 isolates possessed excellent Cd2+ tolerance than others, which was recognized as Enterobacter hormaechei SFC3 through molecular characterization (16S rRNA sequencing). The identified E. hormaechei SFC3 contained 55% and 45% of GC and AT content, respectively. The wild and acridine orange mutated E. hormaechei SFC3 exhibited excellent resistance to Cd2+ up to the concentration of 1500 μg mL-1. Furthermore, the wild E. hormaechei SFC3 and mutated E. hormaechei SFC3 showed 82.47% and 90.21% of Cd2+ remediation on 6th days of treatment respectively. Similarly, the Cd2+ tolerant wild and mutated E. hormaechei SFC3 showed considerable resistance to all the tested antibiotics. The findings indicate that E. hormaechei SFC3 isolated from KNO₃ processing unit contaminated soil is a promising candidate for microbial remediation of Cd2+ contamination.