Simultaneous biodegradation of phenol and cyanide present in coke-oven effluent using immobilized Pseudomonas putida and Pseudomonas stutzeri

ABSTRACT Discharge of coke-oven wastewater to the environment may cause severe contamination to it and also threaten the flora and fauna, including human beings. Hence before dumping it is necessary to treat this dangerous effluent in order to minimize the damage to the environment. Conventional technologies have inherent drawbacks however, biological treatment is an advantageous alternative method. In the present study, bacteria were isolated from the soil collected from the sites contaminated by coke-oven effluent rich in phenol and cyanide. Nucleotides sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis showed the identity of the selected phenol and cyanide degrading isolates NAUN-16 and NAUN-1B as Pseudomonas putida and Pseudomonas stutzeri, respectively. These two isolates tolerated phenol up to 1800 mg L-1 and cyanide up to 340 mg L-1 concentrations. The isolates were immobilized on activated charcoal, saw dust and fly ash. The effluent was passed through the column packed with immobilized cells with a flow rate of 5 mL min-1. The isolates showed degradation of phenol up to 80.5% and cyanide up to 80.6% and also had the ability to reduce biological oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand and lower the pH of effluent from alkaline to near neutral. The study suggests the utilization of such potential bacterial strains in treating industrial effluent containing phenol and cyanide, before being thrown in any ecosystem.

Aerobic cyanide degradation by bacterial isolates from cassava factory wastewater

Ten bacterial strains that utilize cyanide (CN) as a nitrogen source were isolated from cassava factory wastewater after enrichment in a liquid media containing sodium cyanide (1 mM) and glucose (0.2% w/v). The strains could tolerate and grow in cyanide concentrations of up to 5 mM. Increased cyanide levels in the media caused an extension of lag phase in the bacterial growth indicating that they need some period of acclimatisation. The rate of cyanide removal by the strains depends on the initial cyanide and glucose concentrations. When initial cyanide and glucose concentrations were increased up to 5 mM, cyanide removal rate increased up to 63 and 61 per cent by Bacillus pumilus and Pseudomonas putida. Metabolic products such as ammonia and formate were detected in culture supernatants, suggesting a direct hydrolytic pathway without an intermediate formamide. The study clearly demonstrates the potential of aerobic treatment with cyanide degrading bacteria for cyanide removal in cassava factory wastewaters.

Growth kinetics, effect of carbon substrate in biosynthesis of mcl-PHA by Pseudomonas putida Bet001

Growth associated biosynthesis of medium chain length poly-3-hydroxyalkanoates (mcl-PHA) in Pseudomonas putida Bet001 isolated from palm oil mill effluent was studied. Models with substrate inhibition terms described well the kinetics of its growth. Selected fatty acids (C8:0 to C18:1) and ammonium were used as carbon and nitrogen sources during growth and PHA biosynthesis, resulting in PHA accumulation of about 50 to 69% (w/w) and PHA yields ranging from 10.12 g L-1 to 15.45 g L-1, respectively. The monomer composition of the PHA ranges from C4 to C14, and was strongly influenced by the type of carbon substrate fed. Interestingly, an odd carbon chain length (C7) monomer was also detected when C18:1 was fed. Polymer showed melting temperature (Tm) of 42.0 (± 0.2) °C, glass transition temperature (Tg) of -1.0 (± 0.2) °C and endothermic melting enthalpy of fusion (ΔHf) of 110.3 (± 0.1) J g-1. The molecular weight (Mw) range of the polymer was relatively narrow between 55 to 77 kDa.

Marine Pseudomonas putida: a potential source of antimicrobial substances against antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Bacteria isolated from marine sponges found off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, were screened for the production of antimicrobial substances. We report a new Pseudomonas putida strain (designated P. putida Mm3) isolated from the sponge Mycale microsigmatosa that produces a powerful antimicrobial substance active against multidrug-resistant bacteria. P. putida Mm3 was identified on the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequencing and phenotypic tests. Molecular typing for Mm3 was performed by RAPD-PCR and comparison of the results to other Pseudomonas strains. Our results contribute to the search for new antimicrobial agents, an important strategy for developing alternative therapies to treat infections caused by multidrug-resistant bacteria.