In this study, seven environmental bacterial strains tolerant to
mercury were isolated from soils, sediments, and effluents collected
at different metal-rich sites. They were selected for their
tolerance to mercury and their mucoid phenotypes, indicative of
EPS production. Metal depletion capacities were quantified by
inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICPOES)
analysis and were compared for live and dead bacterial biomass,
which permitted differentiation between biosorption and
bioprecipitation processes. Metal accumulation was observed by
transmission electron microscopy (TEM) in conjunction with
X-ray energy dispersive spectrometry (XEDS) analysis. The EPS
associated with the cells or secreted in the supernatants were extracted
and submitted to preliminary characterization