{"id":2000121921,"date":"2026-08-10T12:01:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T10:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/?p=2000121921"},"modified":"2026-08-10T11:59:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T09:59:15","slug":"scientists-discover-bacteria-that-could-help-trap-toxic-uranium-in-contaminated-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/scientists-discover-bacteria-that-could-help-trap-toxic-uranium-in-contaminated-water\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists discover Bacteria that could help trap toxic Uranium in contaminated water"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Researchers from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, working with Wismut GmbH and the University of Granada, found that bacteria living in uranium contaminated mine water can help remove the metal from water when supplied with glycerol, a substance that serves as a food source for microorganisms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In laboratory experiments, about 95 percent of the dissolved uranium disappeared from the water within 130 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Uranium is a radioactive heavy metal that is normally locked inside minerals in soil. However, mining and other environmental processes can cause it to dissolve and enter groundwater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once uranium becomes mobile in water, it can spread through the environment and pose risks because of its toxicity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The researchers wanted to understand not only whether bacteria could reduce the amount of uranium dissolved in water, but also what happened to the uranium after it was removed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The team collected water from a flooded uranium mine in Germany’s Ore Mountains. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mine, operated by Wismut GmbH, provided researchers with a naturally occurring community of microorganisms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the laboratory, the scientists added controlled amounts of glycerol to samples of the mine water and created oxygen free conditions similar to those found deep underground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the bacteria used the glycerol as a food source, the concentration of dissolved uranium gradually fell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After 130 days, only about five percent of the uranium originally dissolved in the water remained. Further investigation showed that the uranium had accumulated within the bacteria’s cell walls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The researchers then used advanced microscopy and spectroscopy techniques to determine what form the uranium had taken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their analysis revealed an unexpected result. A significant amount of the uranium had entered a chemical state known as pentavalent uranium, or uranium with a valency of five.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pentavalent uranium has generally been considered rare and unstable, with scientists previously viewing it as a temporary chemical state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The team discovered that the uranium had combined with iron and oxygen to form a compound known as FeU(V)O4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The compound is particularly interesting because previous research had shown that it could remain stable even when exposed to atmospheric oxygen for more than 25 years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, scientists had not previously understood how the compound could naturally form or that bacteria could play a role in its formation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new experiments provided another surprise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the researchers exposed dried bacterial material containing the uranium compound to oxygen, the amount of FeU(V)O4 actually increased rather than decreased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This suggests that the compound may be more stable in oxygen rich conditions than previously expected. It also strengthens the possibility that bacterial activity could help transform mobile uranium into a form that is less likely to spread through water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr Evelyn Krawczyk-B\u00e4rsch, a scientist in HZDR’s Terrestrial Microbiology research group and a co author of the study, said the findings showed for the first time that bacteria supplied with glycerol can convert dissolved uranium into a stable chemical compound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the researchers stressed that more work is needed before the discovery can be turned into a practical method for cleaning contaminated environments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The scientists now plan to investigate the uranium binding bacteria in greater detail and study the biochemical and geochemical processes responsible for the transformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A better understanding of these processes could help determine whether microorganisms can eventually be used as part of efforts to remediate uranium contaminated water and other environments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Scientists have uncovered an unexpected role for bacteria in converting mobile uranium into a stable chemical form.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Scientists have discovered that bacteria can transform dissolved uranium into a surprisingly stable form, a finding that could open new possibilities for cleaning water contaminated by the radioactive metal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":2000121922,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"byline":[201],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000121921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environment","byline-rania-umutoni"],"bylines":[{"id":201,"name":"Rania Umutoni","slug":"rania-umutoni","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":139}],"contributors":[{"id":201,"name":"Rania Umutoni","slug":"rania-umutoni","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":139}],"featured_image":{"id":2000121922,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/bacteria-convert-uranium-into-stable-chemical-compound.webp","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/webp","width":1920,"height":1080,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/bacteria-convert-uranium-into-stable-chemical-compound.webp","width":1920,"height":1080},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/bacteria-convert-uranium-into-stable-chemical-compound.webp","width":1920,"height":1080},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/bacteria-convert-uranium-into-stable-chemical-compound.webp","width":1920,"height":1080},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/bacteria-convert-uranium-into-stable-chemical-compound.webp","width":1920,"height":1080},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/bacteria-convert-uranium-into-stable-chemical-compound.webp","width":1920,"height":1080}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000121921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/139"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000121921"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000121921\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000121957,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000121921\/revisions\/2000121957"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000121922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000121921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000121921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000121921"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000121921"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000121921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}