Abstract
The phenol-degrading efficiency of Pseudochrobactrum sp. was enhanced by ultraviolet (UV) irradiation. First, a bacterial strain, Pseudochrobactrum sp. XF1, was isolated from the activated sludge in a coking plant. It was subjected to mutation by UV radiation for 120 s and a mutant strain with higher phenol-degrading efficiency, Pseudochrobactrum sp. XF1-UV, was selected. The mutant strain XF1-UV was capable of degrading 1800 mg/L phenol completely within 48 h and had higher tolerance to hydrogen ion concentration and temperature variation than the wild type. Haldane’s kinetic model was used to fit the exponential growth data and the following kinetic parameters were obtained: μmax = 0.092 h−1, Ks = 22.517 mg/L, and Ki = 1126.725 mg/L for XF1, whereas μmax = 0.110 h−1, Ks = 23.934 mg/L, and Ki = 1579.134 mg/L for XF1-UV. Both XF1 and XF1-UV degraded phenol through the ortho-pathway; but the phenol hydroxylase activity of XF1-UV1 was higher than that of XF1, therefore, the mutant strain biodegraded phenol faster. Taken together, our results suggest that Pseudochrobactrum sp. XF1-UV could be a promising candidate for bioremediation of phenol-containing wastewaters.
Highlights
Phenol, the simplest aromatic alcohol, is more acidic than alcohol, due to stabilization of the conjugate base through resonance in the aromatic ring
Bacterial strains were isolated from activated sludge from a local coking wastewater treatment plant
Bacterial strains were isolated from activated sludge from a local coking wastewater treatment plant located in Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
Summary
The simplest aromatic alcohol, is more acidic than alcohol, due to stabilization of the conjugate base through resonance in the aromatic ring. Since it was first extracted from coal tar in. 1834, phenol has been widely used in the synthesis of organic chemicals, and has been continuously introduced into the aquatic environment through the effluent from coking plants, petroleum processing plants, chemical plants, pharmaceutical industries, etc. Phenol can be removed from effluents by physicochemical methods, such as ozonation [3], Fenton’s reagent [4], ultraviolet light (UV) [5], by the use of hydrogen peroxide [6], or by biological methods [7,8]. Biological treatment has advantages over physicochemical methods, as it requires fewer chemical agents and equipment, costs less, and results in less secondary pollution.
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