Present study deals with the isolation and characterization of a bacterium capable for the effective reduction of Cr(VI) from tannery wastewater. Based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, this ...bacterium was identified as Cellulosimicrobium sp. (KX710177). During the Cr(VI) reduction experiment performed at 50, 100, 200,and 300mg/L of Cr(VI) concentrations, the bacterium showed 99.33% and 96.98% reduction at 50 and 100mg/L at 24 and 96h, respectively. However, at 200 and 300mg/L concentration of Cr(VI), only 84.62% and 62.28% reduction was achieved after 96h, respectively. The SEM analysis revealed that bacterial cells exposed to Cr(VI) showed increased cell size in comparison to unexposed cells, which might be due to either the precipitation or adsorption of reduced Cr(III) on bacterial cells. Further, the Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis showed some chromium peaks for cells exposed to Cr(VI), which might be either due to the presence of precipitated reduced Cr(III) on cells or complexation of Cr(III) with cell surface molecules. The bacterium also showed resistance and sensitivity against the tested antibiotics with a wide range of MIC values ranging from 250 to 800mg/L for different heavy metals. Thus, this multi-drug and multi-metal resistant bacterium can be used as a potential agent for the effective bioremediation of metal contaminated sites.
•Characterization of Cr(VI) reducing bacterium from tannery wastewater.•16S rRNA gene sequence analysis identified bacterium as Cellulosimicrobium sp.•SEM, EDX & FTIR analysis.•MIC values ranging from 250 to 800mg/L for different heavy metals.
Crystal Violet (CV), a triphenylmethane dye, has been extensively used in human and veterinary medicine as a biological stain, as a textile dye in textile processing industries and also used to ...provide a deep violet color to paints and printing ink. CV is also used as a mutagenic and bacteriostatic agent in medical solutions and antimicrobial agent to prevent the fungal growth in poultry feed. Inspite of its many uses, CV has been reported as a recalcitrant dye molecule that persists in environment for a long period and pose toxic effects in environment. It acts as a mitotic poison, potent carcinogen and a potent clastogene promoting tumor growth in some species of fish. Thus, CV is regarded as a biohazard substance. Although, there are several physico-chemical methods such as adsorption, coagulation and ion-pair extraction reported for the removal of CV, but these methods are insufficient for the complete removal of CV from industrial wastewaters and also produce large quantity of sludge containing secondary pollutants. However, biological methods are regarded as cost-effective and eco-friendly for the treatment of industrial wastewaters, but these methods also have certain limitations. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop such eco-friendly and cost-effective biological treatment methods, which can effectively remove the dye from industrial wastewaters for the safety of environment, as well as human and animal health.
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•Polyhydroxyalkanoates a potential biopolymer substitute for conventional plastics.•Critically reviewed various waste streams for sustainable and inexpensive PHA production.•Recent ...advances on fermentation strategies & synthetic biology for higher PHA production.•Discussed PHA- nanocomposites and their application in various sectors.•Future perspectives & technical challenges for efficient waste-bioplastic production addressed.
Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) are appealing as an important alternative to replace synthetic plastics owing to its comparable physicochemical properties to that of synthetic plastics, and biodegradable and biocompatible nature. This review gives an inclusive overview of the current research activities dealing with PHA production by utilizing different waste fluxes generated from food, milk and sugar processing industries. Valorization of these waste fluxes makes the process cost effective and practically applicable. Recent advances in the approaches adopted for waste treatment, fermentation strategies, and genetic engineering can give insights to the researchers for future direction of waste to bioplastics production. Lastly, synthesis and application of PHA-nanocomposites, research and development challenges, future perspectives for sustainable and cost-effective PHB production are also discussed. In addition, the review addresses the useful information about the opportunities and confines associated with the sustainable PHA production using different waste streams and their evaluation for commercial implementation within a biorefinery.
Melanoidins are natural condensation products of sugar and amino acids produced by non-enzymatic Maillard amino–carbonyl reaction taking place between the amino and carbonyl groups in organic ...substances. Melanoidins extensively exist in food products, drinks and wastewaters released from distilleries and fermentation industries. Melanoidins are very important from the nutritional, physiological and environmental aspects and due to their structural complexity, dark colour and offensive odor, these pose serious threat to soil and aquatic ecosystem that release of melanoidins cause increased load of recalcitrant organic material to natural water bodies. This then causes the problems, like reduction of sunlight penetration, decreased photosynthetic activity and dissolved oxygen concentration whereas on land, it causes reduction in soil alkalinity and inhibition of seed germination. Further, due to the possibility of complexation reactions of introduced melanoidins with metal ions, they could influence the biogeochemical cycle of many constituents in natural waters. This review presents an overview to dramatic progress to understand the synthesis, chemical structure and degradation pathway of melanoidins as well as microbial strategies for the degradation and decolourisation of melanoidins.
The leather industry is a major source of environmental pollution in India. The wastewater generated by leather industries contains very high pollution parameters due to the presence of a complex ...mixture of organic and inorganic pollutants even after the treatment at a Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) and disturbs the ecological flora and fauna. The nature, characteristics and toxicity of CETP treated wastewater is yet to be fully elucidated. Thus, this study aims to characterize and evaluate the toxicity of CETP treated tannery wastewater collected from the Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, India. In addition to measuring the physico-chemical parameters, the residual organic pollutants was identified by GC-MS analysis and phytotoxicity, cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of the treated wastewater was evaluated using Vigna radiata L. and Allium cepa L. Results showed that the treated wastewater contained very high pollution parameters (TDS 3850 mg/L, BOD 680 mg/L, COD-1300 mg/L). GC-MS analysis revealed the presence of various types of residual organic pollutants including benzoic acid, 3-4,-(T-butyl) Phenyl furan-2-5-dione, benzeneacetamide, resorcinol, dibutyl phthalate, and benzene-1,2,4-triol. Further, toxicological studies showed the phytotoxic nature of the wastewater as it inhibited seed germination in V. radiata L. and root growth of A. cepa. Genotoxicity was evidenced in the root tip cell of A. cepa where chromosomal aberrations (stickiness, chromosome loss, C-mitosis, and vagrant chromosome) and nuclear abnormalities like micronucleated and binucleated cells were observed. Thus, results suggested that it is not safe to discharge these wastewater into the environment.
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•Tannery wastewater rich in organic and inorganic pollutants.•Tannery wastewater possesses genotoxic and cytotoxic pollutants.•Phytotoxic nature of tannery wastewater was evaluated by Vigna radiata seeds.•Allium cepa chromosomal tests revealed genotoxic nature of treated tannery wastewater.•Wastewater also induced chromosomal aberrations and nuclear abnormalities in cells.
Tannery wastewater (TWW) is of serious environmental concern to pollution control authorities, because it contains highly toxic, recalcitrant organic and inorganic pollutants. The nature and ...characteristics of recalcitrant organic pollutants (ROPs) are not fully explored to date. Hence, the purpose of this study was to characterize and identify the ROPs present in the treated TWW. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry data analysis showed the presence of a variety of ROPs in the treated TWW. Results unfolded that benzyl chloride, butyl octyl phthalate, 2,6-dihydroxybenzoic acid 3TMS, dibutyl phthalate, benzyl alcohol, benzyl butyl phthalate, 4-chloro-3-methyl phenol, phthalic acid, 2′6′-dihydroxyacetophenone, diisobutyl phthalate, 4-biphenyltrimethylsiloxane, di-(-2ethy hexyl)phthalate, 1,2-benzenedicarboxylic acid, dibenzyl phthalate, and nonylphenol were present in the treated TWW. Due to endocrine disrupting nature and aquatic toxicity, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency classified many of these as “priority pollutants” and restricted their use in leather industries. In addition, the physicochemical analysis of the treated TWW also showed very high BOD, COD, and TDS values along with high Cr and Pb content beyond the permissible limits for industrial discharge. Furthermore, phytotoxicity assessment unfolds the inhibitory effects of TWW on the seed germination, seedling growth parameters, and
α
-amylase activity in
Phaseolus aureus
L. This indicates that the TWW discharged even after secondary treatment into the environment has very high pollution parameters and may cause a variety of serious health threats in living beings upon exposure. Overall, the results reported in this study will be helpful for the proper treatment and management of TWW to combat the environmental threats.
Enzyme-based catalysis has become one of the most important disciplines in organic synthesis and plays a noteworthy role in the establishment of many chemical industries, e.g. fine chemicals, food or ...energy, textiles, agricultural, cosmeceutical, medicinal and pharmaceutical industries. However, pristine enzymes fail to demonstrate requisite functionalities for an industrial setting where extremely specific and stable catalysts are required. Immobilization enhances the catalytic stability and activity of enzymes and trims the overall cost burden of the enzyme. Therefore, it widely endeavours for proficient, sustainable, and environmentally responsive catalytic processes. Amongst several immobilization strategies, e.g. (1) supports-assisted, i.e. physical or covalent coupling and (2) supports-free techniques, i.e. cross-linked enzyme crystals (CLECs) or aggregates are the most promising ones and widely pursued for enzyme immobilization purposes. This perspective review focuses on up-to-date developments in the area of enzyme immobilization and presents their potentialities to upgrade and/or modify enzyme properties. Both types of immobilization strategies, i.e. supports-assisted and supports-free techniques are discussed with particular reference to CLECs or aggregates and protein-coated microcrystals. Also, several useful traits achieved after immobilization are also discussed in the second half of the review.
In this study, PCR-RFLP and GC–MS approaches were used to characterize the bacterial diversity, organic pollutants and metabolites during the tannery wastewater treatment process at common effluent ...treatment plant (CETP). Results revealed that the bacterial communities growing in aeration lagoon-I were dominated with Escherichia sp., Stenotrophomonas sp., Bacillus sp. and Cronobacter sp. while that of aeration lagoon-II prevailed with Stenotrophomonas sp., and Burkholderiales bacterium, respectively. The HPLC and GC–MS analysis revealed that most of the organic pollutants detected in untreated tannery wastewater samples were diminished from bacterial treated tannery wastewater samples. Only two pollutants i.e. L-(+)-lactic acid and acetic acid could not be degraded by bacteria whereas benzene and 2-hydroxy-3-methyl-butanoic acid was produced as new metabolites during the bacterial treatment of tannery wastewater in aeration lagoon II of CETP. Further, it was observed that after bacterial treatment, the toxicity of tannery effluent was reduced significantly allowing 90% seed germination.
Distillery industries are the key contributor to the world's economy, but these are also one of the major sources of environmental pollution due to the discharge of a huge volume of dark colored ...wastewater. This dark colored wastewater contains very high biological oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, total solids, sulfate, phosphate, phenolics and various toxic metals. Distillery wastewater also contains a mixture of organic and inorganic pollutants such as melanoidins, di-n-octyl phthalate, di-butyl phthalate, benzenepropanoic acid and 2-hydroxysocaproic acid and toxic metals, which are well reported as genotoxic, carcinogenic, mutagenic and endocrine disrupting in nature. In aquatic resources, it causes serious environmental problems by reducing the penetration power of sunlight, photosynthetic activities and dissolved oxygen content. On other hand, in agricultural land, it causes inhibition of seed germination and depletion of vegetation by reducing the soil alkalinity and manganese availability, if discharged without adequate treatment. Thus, this review article provides a comprehensive knowledge on the distillery wastewater pollutants, various techniques used for their analysis as well as its toxicological effects on environments, human and animal health. In addition, various physico-chemicals, biological as well as emerging treatment methods have been also discussed for the protection of environment, human and animal health.
•Endocrine disrupting chemicals of distillery wastewater.•Environmental and health hazards of distillery wastewater pollutants.•Analytical techniques used for distillery wastewater pollutants analysis.•Physico-chemical, biological and emerging treatment methods of distillery wastewater.•Merits and demerits of various distillery wastewater treatment approaches.
Chromium is one of the major inorganic environmental pollutants, which is added in the environment through various natural and anthropogenic activities and exists mainly in two forms: Cr(III) and ...Cr(VI). Cr(VI) is considered to be more toxic than Cr(III) due to its high solubility and mobility. It is a well-reported occupational carcinogen associated with lung, nasal, and sinus cancers. Thus, this review article provides the detailed information on the occurrence, sources of chromium contamination in the environment and their toxicological effects in human, animal, plants as well as in microorganisms, and bioremediation strategies to minimize the toxic effects.