Fungal-bacterial Consortium Research Articles

Building blocks toward sustainable biofertilizers: variation in arbuscular mycorrhizal spore germination when immobilized with diazotrophic bacteria in biodegradable hydrogel beads.

We investigated whether there was interspecies and intraspecies variation in spore germination of 12 strains of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi when co-entrapped with the diazotrophic plant growth-promoting bacteria, Azospirillum brasilense Sp7 in alginate hydrogel beads. Twelve Rhizophagus irregularis, Rhizophagus intraradices, and Funneliformis mosseae strains were separately combined with a live culture of Azospirillum brasilense Sp7. Each fungal-bacterial consortia was supplemented with sodium alginate to a 2% concentration (v/v) and cross-linked in calcium chloride (2%w/v) to form biodegradable hydrogel beads. One hundred beads from each combination (total of 1200) were fixed in solidified modified Strullu and Romand media. Beads were observed for successful spore germination and bacterial growth over 14 days. In all cases, successful growth of A. brasilense was observed. For arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, interspecies variation in spore germination was observed, with R. intraradices having the highest germination rate (64.3%), followed by R. irregularis (45.5%) and F. mosseae (40.3%). However, a difference in intraspecies germination was only observed among strains of R. irregularis and F. mosseae. Despite having varying levels of germination, even the strains with the lowest potential were still able to establish with the plant host Brachypodium distachyon in a model system. Arbuscular mycorrhizal spore germination varied across strains when co-entrapped with a diazotrophic plant growth-promoting bacteria. This demonstrates that hydrogel beads containing a mixed consortium hold potential as a sustainable biofertilizer and that compatibility tests remain an important building block when aiming to create a hydrogel biofertilizer that encases a diversity of bacteria and fungi. Moving forward, further studies should be conducted to test the efficacy of these hydrogel biofertilizers on different crops across varying climatic conditions in order to optimize their potential.

Determination of soil phenanthrene degradation through a fungal-bacterial consortium.

Fungal-bacterial consortia enhance organic pollutant removal, but the underlying mechanisms are unclear. We used stable isotope probing (SIP) to explore the mechanism of bioaugmentation involved in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) biodegradation in petroleum-contaminated soil by introducing the indigenous fungal strain Aspergillus sp. LJD-29 and the bacterial strain Pseudomonas XH-1. While each strain alone increased phenanthrene (PHE) degradation, the simultaneous addition of both strains showed no significant enhancement compared to treatment with XH-1 alone. Nonetheless, the assimilation effect of microorganisms on PHE was significantly enhanced. SIP revealed a role of XH-1 in PHE degradation, while the absence of LJD-29 in 13C-DNA indicated a supporting role. The correlations between fungal abundance, degradation efficiency, and soil extracellular enzyme activity indicated that LJD-29, while not directly involved in PHE assimilation, played a crucial role in the breakdown of PHE through extracellular enzymes, facilitating the assimilation of metabolites by bacteria. This observation was substantiated by the results of metabolite analysis. Furthermore, the combination of fungus and bacterium significantly influenced the diversity of PHE degraders. Taken together, this study highlighted the synergistic effects of fungi and bacteria in PAH degradation, revealed a new fungal-bacterial bioaugmentation mechanism and diversity of PAH-degrading microorganisms, and provided insights for in situ bioremediation of PAH-contaminated soil.IMPORTANCEThis study was performed to explore the mechanism of bioaugmentation by a fungal-bacterial consortium for phenanthrene (PHE) degradation in petroleum-contaminated soil. Using the indigenous fungal strain Aspergillus sp. LJD-29 and bacterial strain Pseudomonas XH-1, we performed stable isotope probing (SIP) to trace active PHE-degrading microorganisms. While inoculation of either organism alone significantly enhanced PHE degradation, the simultaneous addition of both strains revealed complex interactions. The efficiency plateaued, highlighting the nuanced microbial interactions. SIP identified XH-1 as the primary contributor to in situ PHE degradation, in contrast to the limited role of LJD-29. Correlations between fungal abundance, degradation efficiency, and extracellular enzyme activity underscored the pivotal role of LJD-29 in enzymatically facilitating PHE breakdown and enriching bacterial assimilation. Metabolite analysis validated this synergy, unveiling distinct biodegradation mechanisms. Furthermore, this fungal-bacterial alliance significantly impacted PHE-degrading microorganism diversity. These findings advance our understanding of fungal-bacterial bioaugmentation and microorganism diversity in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) degradation as well as providing insights for theoretical guidance in the in situ bioremediation of PAH-contaminated soil.

Tuning interdomain conjugation to enable in situ population modification in yeasts.

The ability to modify and control natural and engineered microbiomes is essential for biotechnology and biomedicine. Fungi are critical members of most microbiomes, yet technology for modifying the fungal members of a microbiome has lagged far behind that for bacteria. Interdomain conjugation (IDC) is a promising approach, as DNA transfer from bacterial cells to yeast enables in situ modification. While such genetic transfers have been known to naturally occur in a wide range of eukaryotes and are thought to contribute to their evolution, IDC has been understudied as a technique to control fungal or fungal-bacterial consortia. One major obstacle to the widespread use of IDC is its limited efficiency. In this work, we manipulated metabolic and physical interactions between genetically tractable Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae to control the incidence of IDC. We test the landscape of population interactions between the bacterial donors and yeast recipients to find that bacterial commensalism leads to maximized IDC, both in culture and in mixed colonies. We demonstrate the capacity of cell-to-cell binding via mannoproteins to assist both IDC incidence and bacterial commensalism in culture and model how these tunable controls can predictably yield a range of IDC outcomes. Furthermore, we demonstrate that these controls can be utilized to irreversibly alter a recipient yeast population, by both "rescuing" a poor-growing recipient population and collapsing a stable population via a novel IDC-mediated CRISPR/Cas9 system.IMPORTANCEFungi are important but often unaddressed members of most natural and synthetic microbial communities. This work highlights opportunities for modifying yeast microbiome populations through bacterial conjugation. While conjugation has been recognized for its capacity to deliver engineerable DNA to a range of cells, its dependence on cell contact has limited its efficiency. Here, we find "knobs" to control DNA transfer, by engineering the metabolic dependence between bacterial donors and yeast recipients and by changing their ability to physically adhere to each other. Importantly, we functionally validate these "knobs" by irreversibly altering yeast populations. We use these controls to "rescue" a failing yeast population, demonstrate the capacity of conjugated CRISPR/Cas9 to depress or collapse populations, and show that conjugation can be easily interrupted by disrupting cell-to-cell binding. These results offer building blocks toward in situ mycobiome editing, with significant implications for clinical treatments of fungal pathogens and other fungal system engineering.

Mass transfer kinetics of polyethylene degradation by bacterial-fungal consortium

Understanding the biodegradation rate of polyethylene (PE) plastic waste mediated by bacterial-fungal consortium (BFC) is important to ensure effective design process of the bioremediation technology. The aims of this study were to scrutinize the behaviors of PE plastic degradation mediated by the BFC colonies numerically simulated the experimental data using the modified mass transfer factor models and to analyze the kinetics and mechanisms of internal, external and global mass transfer. The performance of rectangular reactor (RR) to biologically degrade the PE plastic increased up to 61.5% shows an increased efficiency of 55.9% stimulated by the presence of BFC colonies. Trend in the variation of internal mass transfer is almost the same with that of global mass transfer and is far higher than that of external mass transfer (EMT). The rate-limiting step of PE plastic degradation is dependent on the resistance of EMT. The application of BFC colonies aimed to improve the biodegradation rate of PE plastic waste contributes to advancing the future environmental engineering technologies.

Enhancing bioremediation of petroleum sludge-polluted soil: The impact of fungal-bacterial consortium's application strategy

Many microbial consortia have demonstrated superior capabilities in petrochemical sludge bioremediation. However, their vast potential remains underutilized due to the lack of application strategies. In this study, different fungal-bacterial consortia and inoculation strategies were evaluated in biopiles of oily-sludge-contaminated soil with a total petrochemical hydrocarbons (TPH) concentration of 124,000 mg/kg. Strategies using sequential inoculation, one dose administered at the beginning and another at day 30, of a consortium comprising either Bacillus sp. and Acremonium sp. (treatment 1) or Bacillus sp. and Phanerochaete sp. (treatment 3), resulted in higher removal efficiency compared to their corresponding batch inoculation treatments (i.e., treatments 2 & 4) with the same total inoculation dose over a period of two months. Notably, treatment 5, involving sequential inoculation of the consortium of Bacillus sp., Acremonium sp., and Phanerochaete sp., achieved an impressive 91.2 ± 1.6 % TPH removal efficiency, one of the highest reported levels for this level of contamination. Furthermore, sequential inoculation of the same consortium led to enhanced removal of hydrocarbon fractions compared to batch inoculations. The sequential inoculation approach also increased the microbial population and dehydrogenase activity in the soil more effectively than batch inoculation. These findings demonstrate that sequential inoculation allows microbial consortia to function more efficiently than batch inoculation in the bioremediation process. Consequently, the application of sequential inoculation with fungal-bacterial consortia holds potential for large-scale soil bioremediation, contributing to improved soil fertility and sustainability in an effective manner.

Improving Tannery Wastewater Treatments Using an Additional Microbial Treatment with a Bacterial-Fungal Consortium.

Environmental pollutants such as toxic heavy metals and oxygen-demanding solids are generated by leather manufacturing. In most tanneries, wastewaters are treated with physico-chemical methods but overly high levels of pollutants remain in surface waters. The efficiency of tanning wastewater treatment with conventional techniques was evaluated in four tanneries in Saudi Arabia. It was observed that the wastewaters contained high amounts of pollutants, needing further treatment. We isolated microorganisms from the wastewaters and carried out experiments to treat the effluents with different bacteria, fungi, and their consortia. We hypothesized that a consortium of microorganisms is more efficient than the single microorganisms in the consortium. The efficiency of five single bacterial and five fungal species from different genera was tested. In a consortium experiment, the efficiency of nine bacterial-fungal consortia was studied. The bacterium Corynebacterium glutamicum and the fungus Acremonium sp. were the most efficient in the single-microbe treatment. In the consortium treatment, the consortium of these two was the most efficient at treating the effluent. The factory wastewater treatment reduced total dissolved solids (TDS) from 1885 mg/L to 880 mg/L. C. glutamicum treatment reduced TDS to 150 mg/L and Acremonium sp. to 140 mg/L. The consortium of these two reduced TDS further to 80 mg/L. Moreover, the factory treatment reduced BOD from 943 mg/L to 440 mg/L, C. glutamicum to 75 mg/L, and Acremonium sp. 70 mg/L. The consortium reduced BOD further to 20 mg/L. The total heavy-metal concentration (Cd, Cr, Cu, Mn, and Pb) was reduced by the factory treatment from 43 μg/L to 26 μg/L and by the consortium to 0.2 μg/L. The collagen concentration that was studied using hydroxyproline assay decreased from 120 mg/L to 39 mg/L. It was shown that the consortium of the bacterium C. glutamicum and the fungus Acremonium sp. was more efficient in reducing the pollutants than the single species. The consortium reduced almost all parameters to below the environmental regulation limit for wastewater discharge to the environment in Saudi Arabia. The consortium should be studied further as an additional treatment to the existing conventional tannery wastewater treatments.

Degradation and decolorization of textile azo dyes by effective fungal-bacterial consortium.

Synthetic dyes are one of the main pollutants in the textile industry and bioremediation is considered as an environmentally friendly method to degrade them. Soil microbial consortia (MCs) are reported having the potential of decolorizing most of textile dyes. This study aimed at evaluating dye-degrading ability of MCs developed from fungi and bacteria. Fungi and bacteria were isolated from the soil samples obtained from textile waste dumping site at Horana industrial zone, Sri Lanka and were screened for crystal violet (CV) and congo red (CR) dyes to develop MCs. Decolorization assay was performed for MCs along with individual isolates under variable pH levels. Metabolized products were characterized to confirm the biodegradation. A. tamari (F5) and P. putida (B3) significantly (P < 0.05) decolorized both dyes. All the MCs showed higher decolorization percentages over the individual microorganisms. Neutral pH (pH 7) was the optimum pH for the decolorization of both dyes by individual isolates and the percentages were significantly changed under the acidic and basic pH levels. However, decolorization ability by all MCs was not significantly changed with pH. Consortium with A. tamari - P. putida significantly (P < 0.05) decolourized both dyes under optimum pH 7. All MCs showed better pH tolerance in degrading CV and CR. Thus, it can be concluded that the selected MC with A. tamari - P. putida can degrade CV and CR textile dyes efficiently into non-toxic compounds against plants under neutral pH. Degradation and decolorization of textile azo dyes by effective fungal-bacterial consortium.

Aerobic denitrifying bacterial-fungal consortium mediating nitrate removal: Dynamics, network patterns and interactions

In recent years, nitrogen removal by mixed microbial cultures has received increasing attention owing to cooperative metabolism. A natural bacterial-fungal consortium was isolated from mariculture, which exhibited an excellent aerobic denitrification capacity. Under aerobic conditions, nitrate removal and denitrification efficiencies were up to 100% and 44.27%, respectively. High-throughput sequencing and network analysis suggested that aerobic denitrification was potentially driven by the co-occurrence of the following bacterial and fungal genera: Vibrio, Fusarium, Gibberella, Meyerozyma, Exophiala and Pseudoalteromonas, with the dominance of Vibrio and Fusarium in bacterial and fungal communities, respectively. In addition, the isolated consortium had a high steady aerobic denitrification performance in our sub-culturing experiments. Our results provide new insights on the dynamics, network patterns and interactions of aerobic denitrifying microbial consortia with a high potential for new biotechnology applications.

Development of a Multicomponent Microbiological Soil Inoculant and Its Performance in Sweet Potato Cultivation.

The cultivation and consumption of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) are increasing globally. As the usage of chemical fertilizers and pest control agents during its cultivation may lead to soil, water and air pollution, there is an emerging need for environment-friendly, biological solutions enabling increased amounts of healthy crop and efficient disease management. Microbiological agents for agricultural purposes gained increasing importance in the past few decades. Our goal was to develop an agricultural soil inoculant from multiple microorganisms and test its application potential in sweet potato cultivation. Two Trichoderma strains were selected: Trichoderma ghanense strain SZMC 25217 based on its extracellular enzyme activities for the biodegradation of plant residues, and Trichoderma afroharzianum strain SZMC 25231 for biocontrol purposes against fungal plant pathogens. The Bacillus velezensis strain SZMC 24986 proved to be the best growth inhibitor of most of the nine tested strains of fungal species known as plant pathogens, therefore it was also selected for biocontrol purposes against fungal plant pathogens. Arthrobacter globiformis strain SZMC 25081, showing the fastest growth on nitrogen-free medium, was selected as a component with possible nitrogen-fixing potential. A Pseudomonas resinovorans strain, SZMC 25872, was selected for its ability to produce indole-3-acetic acid, which is among the important traits of potential plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR). A series of experiments were performed to test the selected strains for their tolerance to abiotic stress factors such as pH, temperature, water activity and fungicides, influencing the survivability in agricultural environments. The selected strains were used to treat sweet potato in two separate field experiments. Yield increase was observed for the plants treated with the selected microbial consortium (synthetic community) in comparison with the control group in both cases. Our results suggest that the developed microbial inoculant has the potential to be used in sweet potato plantations. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report about the successful application of a fungal-bacterial consortium in sweet potato cultivation.

Compartmentalization of a synergistic fungal-bacterial consortium to boost lactic acid conversion from lignocellulose via consolidated bioprocessing

A simplified aerobic fungal and facultative bacterial consortium can co-exist owing to the different oxygen spatial niches created by the biofilm system, achieving efficient lactic acid production from cellulose via CBP.

Application of cold-adaptive Pseudomonas sp. SDR4 and Mortierella alpina JDR7 co-immobilized on maize cob in remediating PAH-contaminated freeze-thawed soil

There are large areas of contaminated soils with low- and medium-concentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the coldest regions of the earth, potentially threatening ecological safety and human health. Using maize cobs (MC) as the carrier, two cold-adaptive PAHs-degrading microorganisms, bacterial (Pseudomonas sp., SDR4) and fungal (Mortierella alpine, JDR7) strains were co-immobilized. The degradation characteristics of phenanthrene (Phe), pyrene (Pyr) and benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) in freeze-thawed soil by both co-immobilized and free microorganism were studied. The removal rate of Phe, Pyr and BaP using the co-immobilized fungal-bacterial consortium within 60 d was 59.2±3.7%, 46.6±3.3%, and 36.8±2.7%, respectively, which was obviously higher than that of free fungal-bacterial consortium in the same time. Ten percent (w/w) was the optimal amount of inoculum for PAH degradation in the co-immobilized fungal-bacterial consortium. Under low-temperature conditions, when the initial concentration of PAH was between 10-100 mg•kg−1, the immobilized cold-adaptive fungal-bacterial consortium displayed the desired degradation of PAHs. The scanning electronic microscope (SEM) observation and mass transmission showed that the microstructure of co-immobilized mixed system was beneficial to the growth of SDR4 and JDR7 at low temperature. These results imply that the cold-adaptive fungal-bacterial consortium, co-immobilized on MC, has the potential for application in remediating PAH contaminated soil under the freeze-thawing environment.

Bioremediation of greywater using a novel bacterial–fungal consortium: optimization and validation of the operating parameters in vitro

ABSTRACT In the present study, removal of pollutants in greywater was investigated using a novel bacterial–fungal consortium. Response surface methodology was used for the optimization of process variables like pH, temperature, inoculum size, and Carbon/Nitrogen (C/N ratio) for degradation of pollutants. Experiments were based on Box Behnken statistical design and the results show a good fit with the quadratic model, coefficient of determination (R 2) value of 0.9499. The reliability of the model was established by various statistical parameters like lack of fit, pure error, and residual sum of squares. The optimized conditions for maximum reduction in chemical oxygen demand, oil & grease and sulphate were found to be 78.7%, 82.6% and 89.7%, respectively after 96 h of incubation of the reaction mixture at pH 7; temperature 35°C; inoculum size 150 µl and C/N ratio of 1:2. Our results clearly demonstrate that the developed novel bacterial–fungal consortium can be a cost-effective, safe, and environment-friendly alternative for remediation of greywater.

Microbial Interventions for Composting of Organic and Lignocellulose Waste

Composting of paddy straw (PS) and vegetable waste (VW) was carried out by using different microbial inoculants. Four microbial treatments were designed namely fungal consortium (Aspergillus, Trichoderma), fungal cum bacterial consortium (Aspergillus, Trichoderma, Bacillus, Pseudomonas, Azotobacter, Delftia) and two commercial preparations namely Waste Decomposer and Kayakalp. Pit composting was carried out at soil research farm using pits of 1.5 × 1.2 × 0.3 m dimensions located at 30.9° N, 75.8° E. Attempt was made to carry out composting in these shallow pits but because of lesser total volume only mesophilic composting could be established with no thermophilic phase. Two substrate combinations – 40% PS + 60% VW (Set I) and 70% PS + 30% VW (Set II) were taken 40 kg per pit (fresh weight basis) and 15% inoculum for composting in February to April 2019. In Set I, after 90 days, lowest C% (29.33), highest N% (1.85) and lowest C : N ratio (15.85) were obtained with fungal cum bacterial consortium. In Set II, after 90 days, lowest C% (29.24), highest N% (1.48) and lowest C : N (19.76) were obtained with fungal cum bacterial consortium. After a curing period of 30 days, Set I inoculated with fungal cum bacterial consortium proved to be the best with pH of 8.19, electrical conductivity of 1.52 dS/m, moisture—45%, carbon—29.13%, nitrogen—1.86%, phosphorus—0.44%, potassium—4.06%, C : N ratio—15.66, volatile solids—52.22%, ash—47.78%, crude proteins—7.87%, neutral detergent fibre (NDF)—56.40%, acid detergent fibre (ADF)—36.60%, hemicellulose—19.80% and a germination index of 121.29%.

Synergistic effect of bacterial-fungal consortium for enhanced degradation of azo dyes – a novel approach

Synergistic effect of bacterial-fungal consortium for enhanced degradation of azo dyes – a novel approach

A comparative assessment of the performance of fungal-bacterial and fungal biofilters for methane abatement

Methane is an important contributor to global warming and especially for dilute emissions, its oxidation to carbon dioxide can be difficult and expensive. Methane abatement was studied in a biofilter inoculated solely with the filamentous fungus Fusarium solani and compared to a biofilter inoculated with a consortium of methanotrophic bacteria (Methylomicrobium album and Methylocystis sp.) and F. solani.Results showed that F. solani degrade methane as the sole carbon source, achieving a maximum elimination capacity of 42.2 g m−3 h-1, nearly half of the maximum elimination capacity of the fungal-bacterial consortium. The second Damköhler number indicates that under the prevailing operational conditions, the fungal biofilter performance was bioreaction limited meanwhile external mass transport limitation was found on the fungal/methanotrophic bacteria biofilter.Results support the hypothesis that the beneficial effect of F. solani during CH4 biofiltration is mediated by biomass hydrophobicity rather than by an increase in the mass transfer area.

The interaction between Rhizoglomus irregulare and hyphae attached phosphate solubilizing bacteria increases plant biomass of Solanum lycopersicum

The synergistic interaction between arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and phosphate solubilizing bacteria (PSB) can enhance growth and phosphorous uptake in plants. Since PSBs are well known hyphal colonizers we sought to understand this physical interaction and exploit it in order to design strategies for the application of a combined microbial inoculum. Phosphate-solubilizing bacteria strongly attached to the hyphae of Rhizoglomus irregulare were isolated using a two compartment system (root and hyphal compartments), which were separated by a nylon mesh through which AMF hyphae could pass but not plant roots. Allium ampeloprasum (Leek) was used as the host plant inoculated with R. irregulare. A total of 128 bacteria were isolated, of which 12 showed stable phosphate solubilizing activity. Finally, three bacteria belonging to the genus Pseudomonas showed the potential for inorganic and organic phosphate mobilization along with other plant growth promoting traits. These PSBs were further evaluated for their functional characteristics and their interaction with AMF. The impact of single or co-inoculations of the selected bacteria and AMF on Solanum lycopersicum was tested and we found that plants inoculated with the combination of fungus and bacteria had significantly higher plant biomass compared to single inoculations, indicating synergistic activities of the bacterial-fungal consortium.

Role of Bacterial-Fungal Consortium for Enhancement in the Degradation of Industrial Dyes.

BackgroundThe presence of anthraquinone (Disperse blue 64) and azodyes (Acid yellow 17) in a waterbody are considered among the most dangerous pollutants.MethodsIn this study, two different isolated microbes, bacterium and fungus, were individually and as a co-culture applied for the degradation of Disperse Blue 64 (DB 64) and Acid Yellow 17 (AY 17) dyes. The isolates were genetically identified based upon 16S (for bacteria) and ITS/5.8S (for fungus) rRNA genes sequences as Pseudomoans aeruginosa and Aspergillus flavus, respectively.ResultsThe fungal/bacterial consortium exhibited a higher percentage of dyes degradation than the individual strains, even at a high concentration of 300 mg/L. Azoreductase could be identified as the main catabolic enzyme and the consortium could induce azoreductase enzyme in the presence of both dyes. However, the specific substrate which achieved the highest azoreductase specific activity was Methyl red (MR) (3.5 U/mg protein). The tentatively proposed metabolites that were detected by HPLC/MS suggested that the reduction process catalyzed the degradation of dyes. The metabolites produced by the action consortium on two dyes were safe on Vicia faba and Triticum vulgaris germination and health of seedlings. Toxicity of the dyes and their degradation products on the plant was different according to the type and chemistry of these compounds as well as the type of irrigated seeds.ConclusionWe submit that the effective microbial degradation of DB64 and AY17 dyes will lead to safer metabolic products.

DECOLORIZATION OF VAT VIOLET 1 DYE FROM TEXTILE INDUSTRIAL WASTE WATER USING BIOFILM OF FUNGAL AND BACTERIAL CONSORTIUM

The increasing of textile industries creates a critical need for a proper treatment plan to control and minimize possibilities of contaminants and toxic compounds being released to the environment. One of such approach that is often being researched is the utilization of biofilm for treating industrial waste, and among those is about the use of fungal and bacterial consortium. This research was conducted to examine and acquire a more stable biofilm formed by prime fungal and bacterial consortium for the decolorization process in textile wastewater treatment. Isolates were selected by examining their decolorization capability, antagonistic interaction, and mixed culture formation (consortium). The selection continued with biofilm forming in material plastic LLDPE (Linear Low Density Polyethylene). Superior consortium from bacteria and fungi in form of biofilm in material plastic LLDPE then applied for Vat Violet 1 dye from textile industrial waste water. The selection resulted in two superior fungal isolates coded as strain JYGC1 and K2; and three bacterial isolates coded as strain ATA6, PK29, and PK65. These isolates were then combined to form biofilm on the surface of a plastic material and examined for their applicability to decolorize wastewater containing Vat Violet 1 on varied pH condition of 5, 7, and 8. Biofilm of regular thickness was formed by the fungal bacterial consortium and capable of increasing the rate of decolorization activity. Biomass yield before and after application to the wastewater is highest on pH 7, at 0.66 g and 0.45 g. The thickness and biomass corresponds with decolorization activity, which is also highest on pH 7, with deviation of 1.155 between before and after application; much higher than that of without biofilm application at 0.714.

Ternary Mixture Biodegraded by a Fungal-Bacterial Consortium: Interaction, Kinetic Analysis, and Performance Evaluation

AbstractMultiorganic compounds are commonly found in contaminated environments, and the utilization of pure microbial strains for their removal is inefficient. The present study was conducted to ev...

Bioremediation of Atrazine Herbicide Contaminated Soil Using Different Bioremediation Strategies

This study evaluated the bioremediation of atrazine herbicide contaminated agricultural soil under different bioremediation strategies using indigenous Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus subtilis and Aspergillus niger as bioaugmentation agents and poultry droppings as biostimulation agent. The results showed that bioaugmentation with Pseudomonas aeruginosa, bioaugmentation with Bacillus subtilis, bioaugmentation with Aspergillus niger, bioaugmentation with bacterial-fungal consortium (Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus subtilis and Aspergillus niger) , biostimulation with poultry droppings, and combined biougmentation and biostimulation (Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus subtilis, Aspergillus niger and poultry droppings) resulted in maximum atrazine biodegradation of about 97%, 95%, 84%, 99%, 100% and 100%, respectively. The kinetics of atrazine biodegradation in the soil were modelled using first-order kinetic model and the biodegradation half-life estimated. The first order kinetic model adequately described the kinetics of atrazine biodegradation in soil under the different bioremediation strategies. The rate constants ( k1 ) of atrazine biodegradation in soil subjected to bioaugmentations with Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus subtilis, Aspergillus niger, and bacterial-fungal consortium ranges between 0.059 day-1 and 0.191 day-1 while for that subjected to natural bioattenuation, biostimulation and combined bioaugmentation and biostimulation are 0.026 day-1, 0.164 day- 1 and 0.279 day-1, respectively. The half-life ( 2 t1/ ) of atrazine biodegradation in soil under natural bioattenuation was obtained to be 26.7 days. This was reduced to between 2.5 and 11.7 days under the application of bioaugmentation, biostimulation and combined bioaugmentation and biostimulation strategies. The bioremediation efficiencies of the different bioremediation strategies in influencing atrazine biodegradation or removal is of the following order: Combined bioaugmentation and biostimulation > Bioaugmentation with bacterial-fungal consortium > Biostimulation with poultry droppings > Bioaugmentation with Pseudomonas aeruginosa > Bioaugmentation with Bacillus subtilis > Bioaugmentation with Aspergillus niger > Natural bioattenuation. Keywords : Atrazine; Bioaugmentation; Bioremediation; Biostimulation