Decolorization of textile dye effluent by genetically improved bacterial strains

Synthetic dyes are released into the environment from textile industrial effluents. The discharge of this colored wastewater into rivers and lakes leads to a reduction in sunlight penetration in natural water bodies, which, in turn, decreases both photosynthetic activity and dissolved oxygen concentration and is toxic to living beings. Bacterial isolates are optimized for growth and biomass production before using them for decolorizing dye effluent. The bacterial isolates Bacillus sp. 1 and Bacillus sp. 2 were employed at different percentages by volume with standard nutrient concentration. Of these bacterial isolates Bacillus sp. 2 recorded maximum color reduction. The pH and electrical conductivity (EC) were reduced in the decolorized effluent, and a reduction in biologic oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, total suspended solids, and total dissolved solids (TDS) were also observed.     

Detection of NAD+-dependent alcohol dehydrogenase activities in YR-1 strain of Mucor circinelloides, a potential bioremediator of petroleum contaminated soils

Different soluble NAD⁺-dependent alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) isozymes were detected in cell-free homogenates from aerobically grown mycelia of YR-1 strain of Mucor circinelloides isolated from petroleumcontaminated soil samples. Depending on the carbon source present in the growth media, multiple NAD⁺-dependent ADHs were detected when hexadecane or decane was used as the sole carbon source in the culture media. ADH activities from aerobically or anaerobically grown mycelium or yeast cells, respectively, were detected when growth medium with glucose added was the sole carbon source; the enzyme activity exhibited optimum pH for the oxidation of different alcohols (methanol, ethanol, and hexadecanol) similar to that of the corresponding aldehyde (≈7.0). Zymogram analysis conducted with partially purified fractions of extracts from aerobic mycelium or anaerobic yeast cells of the YR-1 strain grown in glucose as the sole carbon source indicated the presence of a single NAD⁺-dependent ADH enzyme in each case, and the activity level was higher in the yeast cells. ADH enzyme from mycelium grown in different carbon sources showed high activity using ethanol as substrate, although higher activity was displayed when the cells were grown in hexadecane as the sole carbon source. Zymogram analysis with these extracts showed that this particular strain of M. circinelloides has four different isozymes with ADH activity and, interestingly, one of them, ADH4, was identified also as phenanthrene-diol-dehydrogenase, an enzyme that possibly participates in the aromatic hydrocarbon biodegradation pathway.     

Kinetics of the enzymatic saccharification of pretreated tapioca waste (Manihot esculenta) and water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes)

Studies were carried out on saccharification of pretreated tapioca waste and water hyacinth under two different conditions: using microbial enzymes (cellulase fromMyrothecium verrucaria, Coprinus comatus,Pleurotus florida, andCellulomonas sp.) and solid-state fermentation. The rate of saccharification was determined at different temperatures, pH, substrate concentration, and incubation period. It was found that as the source of the enzyme varies, the optimal temperature and pH for the saccharification varies. Among the two different treatments, enzymatic saccharification was found to be the most efficient. Among the various cellulase sources tested, M.verrucaria cellulase was found to be the most efficient one followed byC. comatus, P. florida, and finallyCellulomonas sp.     

Increase in removal of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons during bioremediation of crude oil-contaminated sandy soil

A 2³ full factorial experimental design was adopted to estimate the effects of three variables on the biodegradation of oil during soil bioremediation: bioaugmentation seeding a mixed culture, addition of fertilizer or mineral media, and correction of initial pH of the soil to 7.0. The tests were carried out in polyvinyl chloride reactors with 5.0 kg of crude oil-contaminated soil at 14 g/kg. After screening the variables, soil bioremediation tests were conduced with varied C:N ratios, yielding an increase in biodegradation of the oil heavy fraction from 24 to 65%, consumption of total n-paraffins, and a remarkable decrease in the concentration of residual polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons of the soil.     

Intracellular fate of hydrocarbons

In previous work, purification procedures and zymogram analysis conducted with supernatants of crude extracts from aerobic mycelium of the YR-1 strain of Mucor circinelloides isolated from petroleum-contaminated soils indicated the existence of only one soluble alcohol oxidase (sAO) activity. In the present work enzymatic activity of alcohol oxidase (AO) was also detected in the mixed membrane fraction (MMF) of a high-speed centrifugation procedure after drastic ballistic cellular homogenization to break the mycelium from strain YR-1. When mycelial cells were gently broken by freezing the mycelium with liquid nitrogen, smashing in a mortar, and submitting the samples to an isopycnic sucrose gradients (10–60% sucrose), AO activity was detected in particular and discrete fractions of the gradient, showing specific density values quite different from the density of peroxisomes. The results suggest that there could be a different intracellular pattern of distribution of the microsomal fraction in aerobically grown mycelium depending on the carbon source used in the culture media, including alcohols and hydrocarbons, but not in glucose. In working with particulate fractions, we found two AO activities: a new membrane alcohol oxidase (mAO) activity and the sAO. Both activities appear to be located in the inner of the cells in specific compartments different from the peroxisomes, so mAO could be in the membrane of these compartments and sAO in the lumen of the vesicles. We also assayed other enzymatic activities involved in hydrocarbon biodegradation to establish its intracellular location and other enzymatic activities such as peroxidase to use them as intracellular markers of different organelles. In the case of monooxygenase, the first enzymatic step in the hydrocarbon biodegradation pathway, its location was in the same fractions where AOs were located, suggesting the existance of a specific organelle that contains the enzymatic activities involved in hydrocarbon biodegradation.     

Oxo-biodegradable full carbon backbone polymers - biodegradation behaviour of thermally oxidized polyethylene in an aqueous medium

Several demonstrations of the effective biodegradation in soil of pro-oxidant activated polyethylene (PE) have been reported recently. Nevertheless a comprehensive understanding of the ultimate fate in the environment of the oxidized fragments of oxo-biodegradable polyethylene materials needs the extension of the studies to other natural environments and in particular to aqueous media (river, lake, brackish and marine waters) where accidental plastic littering and the resulting degraded fragments eventually may end up.In this respect, as part of our continuing activity in the area of oxo-biodegradable polymeric materials, in the present paper we wish to report on the results attained in an ongoing investigation on the biodegradation in a water medium of thermally pre-oxidized low density polyethylene (LDPE) film samples containing pro-oxidant additives.Thermally oxidized LDPE-film samples and corresponding acetone extractable fractions were submitted to the effect of microorganism flora present in river water. The effective biodegradation was assessed by monitoring the amount of CO₂ developed over time in a respirometer apparatus. Levels of biodegradation up to 12 and 48% for the degraded fragments and corresponding fractions extracted with boiling acetone were detected on a 100-day time frame.     

HPLC study of the binding of sulfinpyrazone to serum albumin

Summary A thin layer chromatographic method for a qualitative screening-test and a quantitative analysis of 2,4,6-TNT, biodegradation products, octogen and hexogen in ammunition wastes was developed using both polar and non-polar modified sorbents. For enrichment a solidphase extraction on LiChrolut® EN followed by removal with methanol/acetonitrile (11 v/v) was chosen. To imitate real samples, spiked tap water samples of known composition were used.     

Mechanistic implications of plastic degradation

Plastics have become an indispensable ingredient of human life. Their enormous use is a matter of great environmental and economic concern, which has motivated the researchers and the technologists to induce different degrees of degradations in the plastic. These degradations can be induced in a better way if their mechanistic implications are properly understood. A better understanding of the mechanism for these degradations is also advocated in order to facilitate the proper use of the alternative waste disposal strategies. In view of the facts concerning the plastic degradation, in this review article, we have discussed various types of polymeric degradations along with their mechanisms, which include photo-oxidative degradation, thermal degradation, ozone-induced degradation, mechanochemical degradation, catalytic degradation and biodegradation. This article also discusses the different methods used to study these degradations and the factors that affect these degradations.     

Fluorescent analysis of photoinduced biodegradation of cresol isomers

We have used fluorescence spectroscopy to study photoinduced biodegradation of ortho-cresol, para-cresol and mixture of them in water when excited by different UV radiation sources. We show that the efficiency of photolysis for both the individual isomers and the mixture of cresols is higher for excitation by radiation at λ ∼ 222 nm. Pre-irradiation of aqueous cresol solutions slows down subsequent biodegradation. Using a combination of UV irradiation and the strain Penicillium tardum H-2 for utilization of the cresol mixture led to complete degradation of para-cresol and partial degradation of ortho-cresol. Spectral and chromatographic study of the qualitative composition of the metabolites formed during biodegradation of para-cresol showed that preparatory metabolism of such compounds occurs both through oxidation of the methyl group with formation of 4-hydroxybenzoic acid and through hydroxylation with formation of 4-methylcatechol. __________ Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 75, No. 2, pp. 250–255, March–April, 2008.