Metal-Resistant Heterotrophic Bacteria in Coastal Waters of Primorye

Colony-forming heterotrophic bacteria were isolated from several locations in coastal waters of Primorye that differ in the extent and character of heavy metal pollution. Statistically significant differences in the minimum inhibitory concentrations of some metals were found for bacteria isolated from the environments with different levels of pollution. Bacterial strains that were highly tolerant of several heavy metals also showed resistance to a wide spectrum of antibiotics, and some strains bore plasmids of varying numbers and sizes. Bacteria of the family Enterobacteriaceae and the genus Pseudomonas were the dominant metal-resistant bacterial forms in the polluted coastal wasters of Primorye. No strict correlation was found between metal resistance and taxonomic identity of bacteria.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Biologiya Morya, Bezverbnaya, Buzoleva, Khristoforova.