LEI Lei1,2, ZHU Jian-ming1, QIN Hai-bo1,2, SU Hui3, FENG Xin-bin1
(1. State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550002, China;
2. Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100039, China;
3. Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Enshi Prefecture, Hebei, Enshi 445000, China)
Abstract: Selenium is an essential trace element for human beings and animals. It primarily exists as inorganic or organic selenium species such as Se2-, Se0, Se4+ and Se6+ in the environment. Microorganisms play an important role in the transformation of selenium speciation, which predominantly drive the geochemical cycle of selenium in the geological environment. In this paper, the focus is placed on the microbes in relation to selenium, the action mechanism of microbes during the transformation of selenium speciation, and the recently developed methods for studying microbes on selenium. In addition, future microbial bioremediation application on selenium pollution, the issues involved in the study of microbes on selenium and prospects were also presented in order that readers would get a better understanding about the microbial geochemistry of selenium.
Key words: selenium; microbe; geochemistry
EARTH AND ENVIRONMENT Vol. 39, No.1, Tot No.283, 2011, Page 97-104
