Improvement of xylanase production by Aspergillus niger XY-1 using response surface methodology for optimizing the medium composition

Objective: To study the optimal medium composition for xylanase production by Aspergillus niger XY-1 in solid-state fermentation (SSF). Methods: Statistical methodology including the Plackett-Burman design (PBD) and the central composite design (CCD) was employed to investigate the individual crucial component of the medium that significantly affected the enzyme yield. Results: Firstly, NaNO3, yeast extract, urea, Na2CO3, MgSO4, peptone and (NH4)2SO4 were screened as the significant factors positively affecting the xylanase production by PBD. Secondly, by valuating the nitrogen sources effect, urea was proved to be the most effective and economic nitrogen source for xylanase production and used for further optimization. Finally, the CCD and response surface methodology (RSM) were applied to determine the optimal concentration of each sig-nificant variable, which included urea, Na2CO3 and MgSO4. Subsequently a second-order polynomial was determined by multiple regression analysis. The optimum values of the critical components for maximum xylanase production were obtained as follows: x1 (urea)=0.163 (41.63 g/L), x2 (Na2CO3)=?1.68 (2.64 g/L), x3 (MgSO4)=1.338 (10.68 g/L) and the predicted xylanase value was 14374.6 U/g dry substrate. Using the optimized condition, xylanase production by Aspergillus niger XY-1 after 48 h fermentation reached 14637 U/g dry substrate with wheat bran in the shake flask. Conclusion: By using PBD and CCD, we obtained the optimal composition for xylanase production by Aspergillus niger XY-1 in SSF, and the results of no additional expensive medium and shortened fermentation time for higher xylanase production show the potential for industrial utilization.

Pseudomonas sp.ZXY-1,a newly isolated and highly efficient atrazine-degrading bacterium,and optimization of biodegradation using response surface methodology

Atrazine, a widely used herbicide, is increasing the agricultural production effectively, while also causing great environmental concern. Efficient atrazine-degrading bacterium is necessary to removal atrazine rapidly to keep a safe environment. In the present study, a new atrazine-degrading strain ZXY-1, identified as Pseudomonas, was isolated. This new isolated strain has a strong ability to biodegrade atrazine with a high efficiency of 9.09 mg/L/hr.Temperature, p H, inoculum size and initial atrazine concentration were examined to further optimize the degradation of atrazine, and the synthetic effect of these factors were investigated by the response surface methodology. With a high quadratic polynomial mathematical model（R^2= 0.9821） being obtained, the highest biodegradation efficiency of 19.03 mg/L/hr was reached compared to previous reports under the optimal conditions（30.71°C, pH 7.14, 4.23%（V/V） inoculum size and 157.1 mg/L initial atrazine concentration）.Overall, this study provided an efficient bacterium and approach that could be potentially useful for the bioremediation of wastewater containing atrazine.