Decolorization of reactive brilliant red K-2BP by white rot fungus under sterile and non-sterile conditions

Almost all the studies both domestic and international using white rot fungus for dye wastewater treatment are performed under sterile conditions. However, it is obviously unpractical that wastewater with dyes is treated under sterile conditions. A feasible study was made for using white rot fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium to degrade reactive brilliant red K-2BP dye under non-sterile conditions. The results showed that there was no decolorizing effect under non-sterile condition if white rot fungus was incubated under non-sterile condition, and the decolorization was always near to 0% during decolorizing test for 3 d; in the meantime, a lot of yeast funguses were found in liquid medium when white rot fungus was incubated under non-sterile conditions; however, if white rot fungus was incubated under sterile condition firstly, its decolorization was above 90% under non-sterile condition, which was similar to that of sterile condition. So we point out that the treating process for wastewater with dyes should be divided into two stages. The first stage is that white rot fungus should be incubated under sterile conditions, and the second stage is that reactive brilliant red K-2BP is decolorized under non-sterile conditions. The method not only save the operation cost which decolorizing reactive brilliant red K-2BP under sterile condition, but also provide the feasibility for using white rot fungus to degrade wastewater with dyes under non-sterile conditions.

Comparative study on using carbon or nitrogen limited medium to culture white rot fungi for reactive brilliant red dye K-2BP decolotization under non-sterile conditions

In order to explore ways for the application of white rot fungus in dye effluent treatment under non-sterile conditions, experiment on decolorization of reactive brilliant red was carried out, employing nitrogen-limited and carbon-limited medium with C/N ratio of 56/2.2 and 28/44 (in mmol/L), respectively. The results showed that the decolorization rate reached 92% while culturing white rot fungus with ni- trogen-limited medium; however, the decolorization process ended in carbon-limited medium (n(C)/n(N) = 28/44) because of bacterial contamination. In addition, pH rose up to 9.31 after 4 d of decolorization, which was caused by bacterial contamination in the carbon-limited system. Therefore, it is concluded that nitrogen-limited medium can inhibit bacterial growth to some extent while carbon-limited medium is more easily contaminated by bacteria. Nitrogen-limited medium is more suitable in culture of white rot fungus for decolorization of reactive dye. Medium with the ability of inhibiting yeast growth should be developed by adjusting other components of nitrogen-limited medium.

Biodegradation of imazapyr in typical soils in Zhejiang Province,China

The degradation of imazapyr in non-sterile and sterile soils from four sampling sites in Zhejiang, China was studied. The results showed that the half-lives of imazapyr in non-sterile soils were in the range of 30 to 45 d, while 81 to 133 d in sterile(by autoclaving) soils. It means the rate constants of imazapyr under non-sterile conditions were 2 3—4 4 times faster than that under sterile(by autoclaving) conditions, evidently indicating that the indigenous microorganisms in soil play an important role in the degradation of imazapyr. The different sterilization methods could result in different degradation rates of imazapyr. The heat of sterilization of soil largely decreased the degradation. However, the sterile treatment of soil by sodium azide had a different effect from that by autoclaving. Further more, the mechanism was also discussed. Biodegradation in four non-sterile soils accounted for 62% to 78% of imazapyr degradation. In contrast, less than 39% of imazapyr degradation was associated with chemical mechanisms. Therefore, the degradation mechanism was predominantly involved in biology including organisms and microorganisms in soil. Two imazapyr-degrading bacterial strains were isolated in enrichment culture technique and they were identified as Pseudomonas fluorescenes biotypeⅡ(ZJX-5) and Bacillus cereus(ZJX-9), respectively. When added at a concentration of 50 μg/g in mineral salts medium(MSM), ZJX-5 and ZJX-9 could degrade 81% and 87% imazapyr after 48 h of incubation. For the treatment of incorporation of ZJX-5 or ZJX-9 into soil, the degradation rate enhanced 3—4 fold faster than that for control samples, which showed an important value in quick decontamination of imazapyr in soil.