Kinetic modelling of high concentration 4-Nitrophenol biodegradation by an isolated bacterial consortium and post-treatment ecotoxicity analysis

Abstract

The present study documents the kinetics of aerobic batch growth and biodegradation of 4-Nitrophenol (4-NP) by an isolated bacterial consortium capable of utilizing 700 mg l−1 of 4-NP as the sole source of carbon and energy, the highest reported concentration to be biodegraded till date. The results of the batch biodegradation studies suggested that the consortium exhibited substrate inhibition kinetics and the Haldane model fitted the experimental data well. The estimated biokinetic parameters applied to biomass growth were maximum specific growth rate, μmax = 0.1532 h−1, half saturation coefficient, Ks = 4.717 mg l−1, and inhibition coefficient, Ki = 77.34 mg l−1. The specific degradation rate, q, was fitted to the model, and the kinetic parameters obtained were: qmax = 0.1700 g g−1 h−1, K's = 5.871 mg l−1, and K'i = 171.9 mg l−1. The yield coefficient (YX/S) varied in the range of 0.93–0.23 g g−1 for 12–700 mg l−1 4-NP concentration. The maintenance coefficient (m) and true yield (YG) were calculated to be 0.04491 h−1 and 0.9496 g g−1, respectively, based on the Pirt's equation. Furthermore, cytotoxicity and phytotoxicity assessment involving the animal cell line HEK293 and different seed variants, respectively, confirmed the detoxification of the biodegraded product, emphasizing the biocatalytic efficiency of the consortium in the bioremediation of 4-NP contaminated wastewater and suitability of its environmental discharge.