Discharge of heavy metals from metal processing industries is known to have adverse effects on the environment. Biosorption of heavy metals by metabolically inactive biomass of microbial organisms is an innovative and alternative technology for removal of these pollutants from aqueous solution. The search of marine actinobacteria with potential heavy metal biosorption ability resulted in the identification of a novel alkalophilic Streptomyces VITSVK5 species. The biosorption property of Streptomyces VITSVK5 spp. was investigated by absorbing heavy metals Cadmium (Cd) and Lead (Pb). Physiochemical characteristics and trace metal concentration analysis of the backwater showed the concentrations of different metals were lead 13±2.1 μg L-1, cadmium 3.1±0.3μg L-1, zinc 8.4±2.6μg L-1 and copper 0.3±0.1μg L-1, whereas mercury was well below the detection limit. The effect of pH and biomass dosage on removal efficiency of heavy metal ions was also investigated. The optimum pH for maximal biosorption was 4.0 for Cd (II) and 5.0 for Pb (II) with 41% and 84% biosorption respectively. The biosorbent dosage was optimized as 3 g L-1 for both the trace metals. Fourier transform infrared absorption spectrum results indicated the chemical interactions of hydrogen atoms in carboxyl (-COOH), hydroxyl (-CHOH) and amine (-NH2) groups of biomass with the metal ions. This could be mainly involved in the biosorption of Cd (II) and Pb (II) onto Streptomyces VITSVK5 spp. The results of our study revealed Streptomyces metabolites could be used to develop a biosorbent for adsorbing metal ions from aqueous environments. © 2011 Science Press, Ocean University of China and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.