Kinetics of phenol and m-cresol biodegradation by an indigenous mixed microbial culture isolated from a sewage treatment plant

An acclimatized mixed microbial culture,predominantly Pseudomonas sp.,was enriched from a sewage treatment plant,and its potential to simultaneously degrade mixtures of phenol and m-cresol was investigated during its growth in batch shake flasks.A 22 full factorial design with the two substrates at two different levels and different initial concentration ranges(low and high),was employed to carry out the biodegradation experiments.The substrates phenol and m-cresol were completely utilized within 21 h when present at low concentrations of 100 mg/L for each,and at high concentration of 600 mg/L for each,a maximum time of 187 h was observed for their removal.The biodegradation results also showed that the presence of phenol in low concentration range(100–300 mg/L) did not inhibit m-cresol biodegradation.Whereas the presence of m-cresol inhibited phenol biodegradation by the culture.Moreover, irrespective of the concentrations used,phenol was degraded preferentially and earlier than m-cresol.A sum kinetics model was used to describe the variation in the substrate specific degradation rates,which gave a high coeffcient of determination value(R2>0.98)at the low concentration range of the substrates.From the estimated interaction parameter values obtained from this model,the inhibitory effect of phenol on m-cresol degradation by the culture was found to be more pronounced compared to that of m-cresol on phenol.This study showed a good potential of the indigenous mixed culture in degrading mixed substrate of phenolics.

Comparative study of polyhydroxyalkanoates production from acidified and anaerobically treated brewery wastewater using enriched mixed microbial culture

The production of polyhydroxyalkanoates(PHA) from wastewaters using microbial mixed cultures(MMC) has been attracting increased interest because of PHA's biodegradability characteristics. Production of PHA by an MMC enriched with PHA-accumulating bacteria was compared using anaerobically treated and acidified brewery wastewaters under various feeding strategies, namely pulse and batch feed addition. To obtain an enriched MMC, a sequencing batch reactor was inoculated with activated sludge fed with acetate and subjected to aerobic dynamic feeding. The enriched MMC was able to accumulate PHA up to 72.6% of cell dry weight(CDW) with pulse addition of acetate controlled by the dissolved oxygen(DO) concentration in the reactor. In a batch accumulation experiment with acetate,the PHA content achieved(28.5% CDW) was less than that of the pulse feeding strategy with the same amount of acetate(～2000 mg C/L). Using anaerobically treated and acidified brewery wastewater fed in pulses, the maximum PHA accumulated by the enriched MMC was similar for both wastewaters(45% CDW), in spite of the higher volatile fatty acid concentration in acidified brewery wastewater. The pulse feed addition controlled by the DO concentration was difficult to implement for wastewater as compared to acetate because the difference in DO concentration between substrate availability and depletion was low. For the batch addition of acidified wastewater, a slightly lower PHA content(39%CDW) was obtained. These results show that both brewery wastewaters can be utilized for PHA production with a similar maximum PHA storage capacity.

Removal and desorption of chromium in synthetic effluent by a mixed culture in a bioreactor with a magnetic field

Two chromium removal experiments were performed in bioreactors with and without a magnetic field under the same conditions.The release of the chromium present in the biomass was tested in two experiments one with the initial pH of the medium and one with pH 4.0.The objective was to remove Cr(Ⅵ)and total Cr from the effluent,this was carried out by placing biological treatments of synthetic effluent contaminated with 100 mg/L of Cr(Ⅵ)in a bioreactor with neodymium magnets that applied a magnetic field(intensity85.4 mT)to the mixed culture.The removal of Cr(Ⅵ)was approximately 100.0%for the bioreactor with a magnetic field and 93,3%for the bioreactor without a magnetic field for9 hr of recirculation of the synthetic effluent by the bioreactor.The removal of total Cr was61.6%and 48.4%,with and without a magnetic field,respectively;for 24 hr.The desorption of Cr(VI)in the synthetic effluent was 0.05 mg/L,which is below the limit established by Brazilian legislation(0.1 mg/L)for the discharge of effluent containing Cr(Ⅵ)into bodies of water.The results obtained for the removal of chromium in synthetic effluent suggested that there was no significant influence on the viable cell count of the mixed culture.The desorption of Cr(Ⅵ)in synthetic effluent after bioadsorption of chromium by the mixed culture in the process of removal of chromium in bioreactors with and without a magnetic field was not significant in either of the experiments with different initial pHs.

Scrap Iron Filings assisted nitrate and phosphate removal in low C/N waters using mixed microbial culture

This study focuses on identifying the factors under which mixed microbial seeds assist bio-chemical denitrification when Scrap Iron Filings(SIF)are used as electron donors and adsorbents in low C/N ratio waters.Batch studies were conducted in abiotic and biotic reactors containing fresh and aged SIF under different dissolved oxygen concentrations with NO_(3)^(-)−N and/or PO_(4)^(3−)influent(s)and their nitrate/phosphate removal and by-product formations were studied.Batch reactors were seeded with a homogenized mixed microbial inoculum procured from natural sludges which were enriched over 6 months under denitrifying conditions in the presence of SIF.Results indicated that when influent containing 40 mg/L of NO_(3)^(-)−N was treated with 5 g SIF,79.9%nitrate reduction was observed in 8 days abiotically and 100%removal was accomplished in 20 days when the reactor was seeded.Both abiotic and seeded reactors removed more than 92%PO_(4)^(3−)under high DO conditions in 12 days.Abiotic and biochemical removal of NO_(3)^(-)−N and abiotic removal of PO_(4)^(3−)were higher under independent NO_(3)^(-)−N/PO_(4)^(3−)loading,while 99%PO_(4)^(3−)was removed biochemically under combined NO_(3)^(-)−N and PO_(4)^(3−)loading.This study furthers the understandings of nitrate and phosphate removal in Zero Valent Iron(ZVI)assisted mixed microbial systems to encourage the application of SIF-supported bio-chemical processes in the simultaneous removals of these pollutants.

Advance on the production of polyhydroxyalkanoates by mixed cultures

Polyhydroxyalkanoates(PHAs)are the polymers of hydroxyalkanoates that accumulate as carbon/energy or reducing-power storage material in various microorganisms.PHAs have attracted considerable attention as biodegradable substitutes for conventional polymers.Until now,however,industrial production of PHAs has encountered only limited success.The main barrier to the replacement of synthetic plastics by PHAs has been the higher cost.The use of mixed cultures and renewable sources obtained from waste organic carbon can substantially decrease the cost of PHA and increase their market potential.This work reviews two main methods of PHA production by mixed cultures,anaerobic-aerobic processing and aerobic transient feeding processing,and analyzed the metabolic and effective factors.

Investigating the Interaction Between Gluconobacter Oxydans and Bacillus M egaterium for 2-keto-L-gulonic Acid Biosynthesis in the Two-Step Vitamin C Fermentation

In the two-step vitamin C fermentation process, its precursor 2-keto-L-gulonic acid was synthesized from L-sorbose by mixed culture of Gluconobacter oxydans and Bacillus megaterium. The interaction between Gluconobacter oxydans and Bacillus megaterium remains unclear and it is a challenge to mathematically model the mixed growth of these two strains. The Monod-type equations were previously proposed to describe the coupled growth of Gluconobacter oxydans and Bacillus megaterium. However, in this study, we modeled the interaction of these two strains in a macroscopic view by introducing the population theory. Taking account of the fact that the density or concentration of Gluconobacter oxydans or Bacillus megaterium was hardly to measure accurately in the mixed culture broth, the data of concentrations of the substrate and product were used to indirectly investigate the relation between these two strains. Three batch experiments were used to validate our model. And according to the values of identified parameters, the type of interaction between Gluconobacter oxydans and Bacillus megaterium was concluded to be predation, where Gluconobacter oxydans was predator, and Bacillus megaterium was prey.