Journal of Environmental Biology

Aerobic bacterial consortium CN-1: Potential degrader of azo dyes

C. Valli Nachiyar¹*, Swetha Sunkar¹, A. Karunya¹, P.B. Ananth¹ and S Anuradha Jabasingh²

¹Department of Biotechnology, Sathyabama University, Chennai-600 119, India

²School of Chemical and Bioengineering, Addis Ababa Institute of Technology, Addis Ababa, Post Box No. 385, Ethiopia

*Corresponding Author E-mail: vnachiyar@gmail.com

Publication Data

Paper received:

23 April 2014

Revised received:

25 November 2014

Accepted:

20 January 2015

Abstract

Environmental technologists working in the field of bioremediation face a great challenge in treating dye containing textile effluent as effluent contains diverse groups of dyes, which a single microorganism cannot handle. In the present study, aerobic bacterial consortium CN-1 containing 5 different bacterial strains with the ability to degrade 3 different azo dyes were checked for its ability to degrade the same 3 dyes mixed together. The consortium removed 91.5% of these dyes when mixed in the ratio of 65:65:20 (Acid Blue 113, Mordant Black 17and Acid Black 24). Plackett Burman screening design indicated the importance of low concentration of dye and low concentration of glucose for maximum degradation of dyes. The consortium began to degrade the mixed dye when they were in their mid lag phase, and the rate of degradation reached a maximum of 6.6 mg h-1 after 4 hr of incubation which started to decrease gradually to 4.4 mg h^-1 by 16 hr after which the decrease in the rate of degradation was found to be quite slow. Degradation was found to follow the first order of kinetics with k value of 0.085 hr^-1 and R² being 0.982. Salicylic acid and 2-naphthol were identified as intermediate compounds from GC-MS analysis.    

 Key words

Acid blue 113, Acid black 24, Biodegradation, Consortium CN-1, Mordant Black 17

Copyright ? 2016 Triveni Enterprises. All rights reserved. No part of the Journal can be reproduced in any form without prior permission. Responsibility regarding the authenticity of the data, and the acceptability of the conclusions enforced or derived, rest completely with the author(s).