Degradation of Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon (TPH) in Contaminated Soil Using Bacillus pumilus MVSV3.

　A study on bioremediation of soil contaminated with petroleum sludge was performed using Bacillus pumilus/MVSV3 (Accession number JN089707). In this study, 5 kg of agricultural soil was mixed well with 5% oil sludge and fertilizers containing nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (N:P:K). The treatment resulted in 97% removal of total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) in 122 d in bacteria mixed contaminated soil when compared to 12% removal of TPH in uninoculated contaminated soil. The population of the microorganism remained stable after introduced into the oil environment. The physical and chemical parameters of the soil mixed with sludge showed variation indicating improvement and the pH level decreased during the experiment period. Elemental analysis and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS) analysis revealed the bacterial ability to degrade oil sludge components. Growth experiments with Trigonellafoenumgraecum (Fenugreek) showed the applicability of bioremediated soil for the production.

Degradation of monoaromatics by Bacillus pumilus MVSV3

ABSTRACT Monoaromatics, such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene (BTEX), are simple aromatic compound that are highly toxic due to their high solubility nature. Many chemical and physical methods for their degradation and breakup into nontoxic products are available, but still use of microorganism is preferred over these processes. In this present study Bacillus pumilus MVSV3 (Accession number JN089707), a less explored bacteria in the field of BTEX degradation, isolated from petroleum contaminated soil is utilized for BTEX degradation. At optimized conditions the isolate degraded 150 mg/L of BTEX completely within 48 h. GC-MS analysis revealed that the microorganism produces catechol and muconic acid during degradation indicating an ortho pathway of degradation. Enzyme assays were carried out to identify and characterize catechol 1, 2- dioxygenase (C12D). The optimal temperature and pH for the enzyme activity was identified as 35 (C and 7.5, respectively. SDS-PAGE revealed the molecular weight of the enzyme to be approximately 35,000 Da. Zymography analysis indicated the presence of three isoforms of the enzyme. Hence Bacillus pumilus MVSV3 and the isolated C12D, proved to be efficient in degrading the toxic aromatic compounds.

Utilization of coconut oil cake for the production of lipase using Bacillus coagulans VKL1.

The overproduction of enzymes was performed by manipulating the medium components. In our study, solvent-tolerant thermophilic lipase-producing Bacillus coagulans was isolated from soil samples and a stepwise optimization strategy was employed to increase the lipase production using coconut oil cake basal medium. In the first step, the influence of pH, temperature, carbon source, nitrogen source and inducers on lipase activity was investigated by the One-Factor-At-A-Time (OFAT) method. In the second step, the three significant factors resulted from OFAT were optimized by the statistical approach (CCD).The optimum values of olive oil (0.5%), Tween 80 (0.6%) and FeSO4 (0.05%) was found to be responsible for a 3.2-fold increase in the lipase production identified by Central Composite Design.

Sonoassisted microbial reduction of chromium.

This study presents sonoassisted microbial reduction of hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) using Bacillus sp. isolated from tannery effluent contaminated site. The experiments were carried out with free cells in the presence and absence of ultrasound. The optimum pH and temperature for the reduction of Cr(VI) by Bacillus sp. were found to be 7.0 and 37 degrees C, respectively. The Cr(VI) reduction was significantly influenced by the electron donors and among the various electron donors studied, glucose offered maximum reduction. The ultrasound-irradiated reduction of Cr(VI) with Bacillus sp. showed efficient Cr(VI) reduction. The percent reduction was found to increase with an increase in biomass concentration and decrease with an increase in initial concentration. The changes in the functional groups of Bacillus sp., before and after chromium reduction were observed with FTIR spectra. Microbial growth was described with Monod and Andrews model and best fit was observed with Andrews model.

Improved biodegradation of Congored by using Bacillus sp.

The biodegradation of Congored, a toxic azo dye, was studied by using a hybrid technique involving sonolysis as pretreatment followed by biological treatment. The experiments were carried out with and without pretreatment using dye solution as a sole source of nutrition with an isolated and acclimatized strain of Bacillus sp. obtained from tannery industry effluent. The pretreatment time was varied as 30, 60, 90, 120, 150 and 180 min and then the pretreated dye solution was subjected to biological treatment. The effectiveness of pretreatment was compared with the results of biological degradation of non pretreated Congored and the results showed that the pretreatment improved the efficiency of the biodegradation of Congored. During the biological degradation, the increase in initial dye concentration decreased the decolorization rate and at high concentrations (1500 and 2000 mg/l), the inhibition was observed. The optimum pH and temperature were determined to be 7.0 and 37 degrees C, respectively. The data obtained through biodegradation experiments were fitted with five different kinetic models and the results were analyzed.

Copper removal from aqueous solution by marine green alga Ulva reticulata

The batch removal of copper (II) ions from aqueous solution under different experimental conditions using Ulva reticulata was investigated in this study. The copper (II) uptake was dependent on initial pH and initial copper concentration, with pH 5.5 being the optimum value. The equilibrium data were fitted using Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm model, with the maximum copper (II) uptake of 74.63 mg/g determined at a pH of 5.5. The Freundlich model regression resulted in high correlation coefficients and the model parameters were largely dependent on initial solution pH. At various initial copper (II) concentrations (250 to 1000 mg/L), sorption equilibrium was attained between 30 and 120 min. The copper (II) uptake by U. reticulata was best described by Pseudo-second order rate model and the rate constant, the initial sorption rate and the equilibrium sorption capacity were also reported. The elution efficiency for copper-desorption from U. reticulata was determined for 0.1 M HCl, H2SO4, HNO3 and CaCl2 at various Solid-to-Liquid ratios (S/L). The solution CaCl2 (0.1 M) in HCl at pH 3 was chosen to be the most suitable copper-desorbing agent. The biomass was also employed in three sorption-desorption cycles with 0.1 M CaCl2 (in HCl, pH 3) as the elutant.