Separation of Rare Earth Elements by Microorganisms

抄録

The selective accumulation of rare earth elements in Gram-positive bacteria and actinomycetes was examined. The resting cells of 18 strains having high capacities to accumulate rare earth elements were screened for selectivity using a solution containing 5 elements: Y, La, Sm, Er, and Lu. Among the strains tested, Bacillus megaterium accumulated Sm, Streptomyces albus accumulated Lu, and Arthrobacter nicotianae accumulated both Sm and Lu in higher quantities than the other metals. Similar results were also obtained from a solution containing Y and 14 rare earth elements (La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, and Lu). The amount of Sm accumulated in B. megaterium and that of Lu accumulated in S. albus increased as the initial metal concentration increased. S. albus and B. megaterium cells show the highest capacity to accumulate Lu and Sm, respectively, from a solution containing 5 elements, Y, La, Sm, Er, and Lu when each metal concentration ranged from 20 to 100 μM. These results suggest that the separation of these two rare earth elements using microorganisms should be possible.