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Biodegradation of Various Aromatic Compounds by Enriched Bacterial Cultures: Part A–Monocyclic and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons

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Abstract

Present study focused on the screening of bacterial consortium for biodegradation of monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (MAH) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Target compounds in the present study were naphthalene, acenaphthene, phenanthrene (PAHs), and benzene (MAH). Microbial consortia enriched with the above target compounds were used in screening experiments. Naphthalene-enriched consortium was found to be the most efficient consortium, based on its substrate degradation rate and its ability to degrade other aromatic pollutants with significantly high efficiency. Substrate degradation rate with naphthalene-enriched culture followed the order benzene > naphthalene > acenaphthene > phenanthrene. Chryseobacterium and Rhodobacter were discerned as the predominant species in naphthalene-enriched culture. They are closely associated to the type strain Chryseobacterium arthrosphaerae and Rhodobacter maris, respectively. Single substrate biodegradation studies with naphthalene (PAH) and benzene (MAH) were carried out using naphthalene-enriched microbial consortium (NAPH). Phenol and 2-hydroxybenzaldehyde were identified as the predominant intermediates during benzene and naphthalene degradation, respectively. Biodegradation of toluene, ethyl benzene, xylene, phenol, and indole by NAPH was also investigated. Monod inhibition model was able to simulate biodegradation kinetics for benzene, whereas multiple substrate biodegradation model was able to simulate biodegradation kinetics for naphthalene.

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Authors are declaring that there is no potential conflict of interest involved and this work is in compliance with ethical standards.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental and Water Resources Engineering Division, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Madras, Chennai, 600 036, India

    Akashdeep Singh Oberoi, Ligy Philip & S. Murty Bhallamudi

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  1. Akashdeep Singh Oberoi
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  2. Ligy Philip
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  3. S. Murty Bhallamudi
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Correspondence to Ligy Philip.

Electronic supplementary material

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Fig S1

Substrate degradation profile during the initial phase of acclimatization. Concentration of target pollutants increased in stepwise manner (DOCX 94 kb)

Fig S2

Substrate degradation and bacterial growth kinetics during the biodegradation of various PAHs and benzene with different enriched cultures (initial pollutant concentration = 50 mg/L) (DOCX 439 kb)

Fig S3

Specific (mg/g/h) and maximum degradation rate (mg/h) for various PAHs and benzene with different enriched cultures (DOCX 182 kb)

Fig S4

Acetone degradation profile during the time course degradation of various PAHs: a naphthalene, b scenaphthene, and c phenanthrene with different enriched cultures (DOCX 288 kb)

Fig S5

TOC removal pattern during the biodegradation of various PAHs and benzene with different enriched cultures a naphthalene, b acenaphthene, c phenanthrene, d benzene (DOCX 225 kb)

Fig S6

Fragmentation pattern of different intermediates identified during biodegradation of benzene and naphthalene (DOCX 86 kb)

Fig S7

Experimental and model predicted (generalized model) results for acetone degradation during the biodegradation of different initial concentration of naphthalene (DOCX 97 kb)

Fig S8

Biodegradation of different substrates by naphthalene enriched culture for different initial concentrations (DOCX 81 kb)

Fig S9

Neighbor-joining phylogenetic tree based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showing the relationship between isolated strain NAP1 with closely related members in GenBank during BLAST analysis. Bootstrap percentages (based on 1000 replicates) are given at the branching points. NCBI accession numbers for the sequences used in the analysis are given in parentheses. Bar 0.005 nucleotide substitutions per site (DOCX 37 kb)

Fig S10

Neighbor-joining phylogenetic tree based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showing the relationship between isolated strain NAP2 with closely related members in GenBank during BLAST analysis. Bootstrap percentages (based on 1000 replicates) are given at the branching points. NCBI accession numbers for the sequences used in the analysis are given in parentheses. Bar 0.001 nucleotide substitutions per site (DOCX 33 kb)

Fig S11

Neighbor-joining phylogenetic tree, based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, showing the relationship between isolated strain NAP1 and previously known species of the genus Chryseobacterium. Bootstrap percentages (based on 1000 replicates) are given at the branching points. NCBI accession numbers for the sequences used in the analysis are given in parentheses. Bar 0.005 nucleotide substitutions per site (DOCX 19 kb)

Fig S12

Neighbor-joining phylogenetic tree, based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, showing the relationship between isolated strain NAP2 and previously known species of the genus Rhodobacter. Bootstrap percentages (based on 1000 replicates) are given at the branching points. NCBI accession numbers for the sequences used in the analysis are given in parentheses. Bar 0.005 nucleotide substitutions per site (DOCX 19 kb)

Table S1

Various kinetic models and corresponding governing Equations (DOCX 30 kb)

Table S2

Mass spectral details of characteristic fragment ion peaks of metabolites identified during the degradation of benzene and naphthalene (DOCX 15 kb)

Table S3

Comparison of biokinetic parameters obtained from Monod inhibition model with Haldane and Monod model for benzene (DOCX 15 kb)

Table S4

Values of growth kinetic parameters reported in the literature evaluated from different biokinetic models (DOCX 17 kb)

Table S5

Modified coefficients of efficiency (E) obtained while evaluating performance of Monod inhibition model for benzene (DOCX 16 kb)

Table S6

Modified coefficients of efficiency (E) obtained while evaluating performance of generalized model for naphthalene (DOCX 16 kb)

Table S7

Comparison of modified coefficients of efficiency (E) obtained while evaluating performance of Monod inhibition Model with Haldane and Monod model for benzene degradation (DOCX 16 kb)

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Oberoi, A.S., Philip, L. & Bhallamudi, S.M. Biodegradation of Various Aromatic Compounds by Enriched Bacterial Cultures: Part A–Monocyclic and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 176, 1870–1888 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-015-1684-1

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