Biodegradation of bisphenol A by bacterial consortia isolated directly from river sediments

Abstract

Bisphenol A (BPA) is an endocrine disrupting compound (EDC) of emerging concern because of its capability to mimic hormonal functions causing adverse health effects in human and aquatic life. Due to its ubiquitous presence in air, water, and soil, the removal of BPA from the environment has become a pressing issue. This study investigated promising microbial systems to remove BPA using three bacterial strains (HAWD1, HAWD2, and HAWD3) and a bacterial consortium (BCC1) isolated directly from the sediment of the Rio Grande River. In the culture media spiked with BPA as the sole carbon source, the growth of the bacteria, biodegradation kinetics, formation of metabolites, and BPA removal capacity were studied. Three out of six bacterial strains isolated showed an increasing growth in the BPA spiked medium using BPA as their carbon source. The consortium BCC1 of the three strains (HAWD1, HAWD2, and HAWD3) had the highest degree of BPA removal capacity (100%) within 72 h after incubation followed by HAWD1 (95%), HAWD2 (91%), and HAWD 3 (89%). Notably, the consortium had the fastest BPA removal rate and could transform BPA completely to its metabolites in 72 h of incubation. All biodegradation most like followed zero order reaction under the experimental condition. The results demonstrated the BPA degradation ability of a novel microbial system and revealed that microbial diversity could play an important role in BPA and other EDCs decomposition in the environment.