Bacterial diversity of extremely alkaline bauxite residue site of alumina industrial plant using culturable bacteria and residue 16S rRNA gene clones.

Bauxite residue (red mud), generated during the extraction of alumina from bauxite ore is characterized by high pH, high concentrations of soluble ions with low or virtually no organic matter. These extreme conditions along with numerous nutrient deficiencies, limit the microbial growth and vegetation establishment. In the present study, diversity of both cultivable and non-cultivable bacteria present in the red mud was investigated by 16S rDNA sequence analyses. The cultivable bacteria were identified as Agromyces indicus, Bacillus litoralis, B. anthracis, Chungangia koreensis, Kokuria flava, K. polaris, Microbacterium hominis, Planococcus plakortidis, Pseudomonas alcaliphila and Salinococcus roseus based on their 16S rDNA sequence analysis. These isolates were alkali tolerant, positive for one or more of the enzyme activities tested, able to produce organic acids and oxidize wide range of carbon substrates. For non-cultivable diversity of bacteria, DNA was extracted from the bauxite residue samples and 16S rDNA clone library was constructed. The 16S rDNA clones of this study showed affiliation to three major phyla predominant being betaproteobacteria (41.1%) followed by gammaproteobacteria (37.5%) and bacteroidetes (21.4%). We are reporting for the first time about the bacterial diversity of this unique and extreme environment.

Alkalistable xylanase production by alkalitolerant Paenibacillus montaniterrae RMV1 isolated from red mud.

The alkalitolerant and xylanolytic bacterial strain (RMV1) isolated from red mud pond was identified as Paenibacillus montaniterrae based on both biochemical and 16S rDNA sequence analysis. The RMV1 bacterial isolate produced alkalistable and thermostable endoxylanase active over a broad range of pH (4.0-11.0) and temperature (20-100 °C), with optima at 50 °C and pH 9.0 with a T1/2 of 6.7 hours at 50 °C. This is the first report on the isolation of P. montaniterrae from bauxite residue with quite a high xylanase producing ability.

Effect of carbon and nitrogen sources on phosphate solubilization by a wild-type strain and UV-induced mutants of Aspergillus tubingensis.

The mechanisms of action of phosphate solubilization were studied in the wild-type strain Aspergillus tubingensis and the phenotypic mutants derived from it. The P solubilization activities of these isolates were measured in liquid media using different carbon and nitrogen sources. All the mutants showed higher P solubilization compared to the wild type. Glucose and sucrose significantly promoted P solubilization compared to fructose, lactose, galactose, and xylose. Potassium nitrate significantly increased P solubilization compared to other nitrogen sources such as ammonium sulfate, ammonium nitrate, aspargine, and tryptophan. The P solubilization activity was strongly associated with the production of organic acids, especially succinic acid and acetic acid. The enzyme activities such as acid phosphatase and phytase also increased significantly in mutants compared to the wild type. These results suggested the role of these enzymes in P solubilization apart from the organic acid exudation and H+ pump in A. tubingensis.