While biosorption of heavy metal by biomass, especially
non-viable biomass has been received much attention due to
its potential use in waste treatment processes involving
removal of heavy metal pollutants [1,2], its application is
limited by the relatively low specificity to goal heavy metal
and the relatively high sensitivity to environmental factors,
such as pH and ion strength [3–5], which may cause
difficulty in the recovery and recycling of the desired metals.
Recently, the recovery and reuse of valuable metal ions from
industrial wastewater has become important for saving
precious resources and achieving sustainable development,
therefore new treatment methods with a high selectivity to
the desired metal ion should be required. In this regard, the
genetic engineering technique is a promising alternative to
tailor microorganisms to achieve higher intrinsic capability
and specificity, and to be more resistant to ambient conditions