Differences in the persistence of various bleachery effluent lignins against attack by white-rot fungi

Summary Three distinct pulp mill bleachery effluents, derived from a chlorine-alkali-hydpochlorite (CEH), an alkali-oxygen-peroxide (EOP), and a hypochlorite-chlorine dioxide-alkali-hypochlorite (HDEH) bleaching stage were treated with the white-rot fungiPhanerochaete chrysosporium andTrametes versicolor. Color units as well as absorbance in the UV (280 nm) of the CEH and HDEH effluents were diminished significantly by both fungi, whereas the EOP effluent lignins appeared recalcitrant. Toxicity was found to be highest in the chlorine-free EOP effluent.T. versicolor diminished the toxicity of both the CEH and the EOP effluent by about 35%, but caused no detoxification of the HDEH effluent.     

Five interesting ascomycetes from herbal drugs

Among strains isolated from herbal drugs in a mycological survey conducted in 1977–1980, five noteworthy species of pyrenomycetous ascomycetes are described and illustrated:Gelasinospora mirabilis var.gigaspora var. nov., isolated from Taraxaci Herba (Japanese name, Hokoei);Lophotrichus ampullus, isolated from Trichosanthis Radix (Japanese name, Karokon);L. bartlettii, isolated from Chamomillae Flos (Japanese name, Kamitsure);Sordaria conoidea, isolated from Plantaginis Semen (Japanese name, Shazenshi); andThielavia subthermophila, isolated from wood ofAbies webbiana, Plantaginis Semen and Plantaginis Herba (Japanese names, Shazenshi and Shazenso).     

The effect of cooling seawater effluents of a power plant on growth rate of cultured Gracilaria conferta (Rhodophyta)

The effect of cooling seawater effluents of a power plant on the growth rate of Gracilaria conferta in tanks has been studied, as a possible solution for the decrease in the winter growth rate in ambient seawater tanks. The Gracilaria cultures did not survive more than 2–8 weeks in the power plant effluents during the one-year-long repeated experiments. The major reason was the high accumulation of copper, iron, lead and chromium from the power plant effluents as compared to concentrations in Gracilaria cultured in ambient seawater. The survival increased and the copper accumulation decreased significantly when the effluents were passed through an Ulva biofilter.     

Metabolic characterization of a strain (BM90) of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Delftia tsuruhatensis</Emphasis> showing highly diversified capacity to degrade low molecular weight phenols

A novel bacterium, strain BM90, previously isolated from Tyrrhenian Sea, was metabolically characterized testing its ability to use 95 different carbon sources by the Biolog system. The bacterium showed a broad capacity to use fatty-, organic- and amino-acids; on the contrary, its ability to use carbohydrates was extremely scarce. Strain BM90 was identified and affiliated to Delftia tsuruhatensis by molecular techniques based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing. D. tsuruhatensis BM90, cultivated in shaken cultures, was able to grow on various phenolic compounds and to remove them from its cultural broth. The phenols used, chosen for their presence in industrial or agro-industrial effluents, were grouped on the base of their chemical characteristics. These included benzoic acid derivatives, cinnamic acid derivatives, phenolic aldehyde derivatives, acetic acid derivatives and other phenolic compounds such as catechol and p-hydroxyphenylpropionic acid. When all the compounds (24) were gathered in the same medium (total concentration: 500 mg/l), BM90 caused the complete depletion of 18 phenols and the partial removal of two others. Only four phenolic compounds were not removed. Flow cytometry studies were carried out to understand the physiological state of BM90 cells in presence of the above phenols in various conditions. At the concentrations tested, a certain toxic effect was exerted only by the four compounds that were not metabolized by the bacterium.     

Agar yield and quality of Gracilaria chilensis (Gigartinales,Rhodophyta) in tank culture using fish effluents

Tank cultivation of Gracilaria using fish effluents has permitted a production of 48 kg m^–2 yr^–1 and can reduce the dissolved nitrogen loads in the seawater. We report the yield, gel strength, gelling and melting point of agar from Gracilaria cultivated in tanks with seawater previously utilized in intensive, land-based salmon cultures and compared to a control using directly pumped seawater, over a study period of 22 months. The results show that the highest agar yield (20 to 22%) was obtained when Gracilaria was cultivated with pure seawater as compared to the fish effluents. The gel strength, gelling and melting point were higher in the agar obtained from algae cultured with fish effluents. During the spring, the gel strength, gelling and melting point increased in tanks with fish effluents and decreased in tanks with a supply of pure seawater.     

Effects of Crude and Bioremediated Thermal Power Plant Effluents in Brassica Juncea

Crude phenol and cyanides are the major components of the effluents discharged by industries involved in the manufacture of many synthetic inorganic and organic compounds, pharmaceuticals, electroplating units, and thermal power plants.

In this study, an effort was made to use effluents as manure. The effect of various amendments (10, 40, 70, and 100%) of bioremediated and crude effluents was checked on plants of Brassica juncea. Roots, shoot lengths, and the mean dry weights were maximum in the plants irrigated with 10% treated and 10% crude effluent as compared to the control plants. Total plant phenolics increased with an increase in the amendment of the effluents in the plants irrigated with bioremediated as well as crude effluents. Applications of lower amendments of treated and untreated effluents in Brassica juncea improved the chlorophyll levels in the experimental plants and the values obtained were similar to the control plants. Effect of bioremediated and crude effluents on antioxidant enzymes of Brassica juncea showed a differential effect. The activity of antioxidant enzymes peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) was observed to increase with an increase in the effluent concentration.

Here we demonstrate that the industrial effluents, when bioremediated of their harmful components, can also serve as a nourishment for plants, which can further help in the rehabilitation of wastelands.     

Characterization of yeasts isolated from spontaneously fermenting fresh olive effluents

Summary Spontaneous fermentation of sugars in fresh olive oil extraction effluents was caused by yeasts tentatively identified asCandida wickerhamii, C. molischiana andSaccharomyces cerevisiae. These strains may serve to convert olive oil waste effluents into useful products.

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Caractérisation de levures isolées d'effluents d'extraction d'huile d'olive en fermentation spontanée

Résumé La fermentation spontanée des sucres dans des effluents d'extraction d'huile d'olive est due à des souches de levures tentativement identifiées commeCandida wickerhamii, C. molischiana etSaccharomyces cerevisiae. Ces souches peuvent servir à la conversion d'effluents résiduaires d'extraction d'huile d'olive en produits utiles.

     

A comparison of organochlorine removal from bleached kraft pulp and paper-mill effluents by dehalogenating Pseudomonas,Ancylobacter and Methylobacterium strains

The relative importance of each of three dechlorinating species to overall organochlorine removal from bleached kraft-mill effluents (BKME) was assessed. Ancylobacter aquaticus A7, Pseudomonas P1, and Methylobacterium CP13, strains indigenous to a BKME treatment system, were tested for growth on chlorinated acetic acids and alcohols, and for adsorbable organic halogen (AOX) reduction in batch cultures of sterile BKME from three sources. A. aquaticus A7 exhibited the broadest substrate range, but could only affect significant AOX reduction in softwood effluents. Methylobacterium CP13 exhibited a limited substrate range, but was capable of removing significant amounts of AOX from both hardwood and softwood effluents. By contrast, Pseudomonas sp. P1 exhibited a limited substrate range and poor to negligible reductions in AOX levels from both effluent types. Mixed inocula of all three species combined and inocula of sludge from mill treatment systems removed as much AOX from softwood effluents as did pure populations of Methylobacterium CP13. When BKME was hydrolysed prior to AOX analysis, the subsequent estimates of recalcitrant, or non-hydrolysable, AOX levels were far less variable than their counterpart total AOX measures. It is suggested that this is a relevant and useful measure of AOX for biodegradation studies.     

Microbial degradation of phenol and phenolic derivatives

Phenol and its derivatives are one of the largest groups of environmental pollutants due to their presence in many industrial effluents and broad application as antibacterial and antifungal agents. A number of microbial species possess enzyme systems that are applicable for the decomposition of various aliphatic and aromatic toxic compounds. Intensive efforts to screen species with high‐degradation activity are needed to study their capabilities of degrading phenol and phenolic derivatives. Most of the current research has been directed at the isolation and study of microbial species of potential ecological significance. In this review, some of the best achievements in degrading phenolic compounds by bacteria and yeasts are presented, which draws attention to the high efficiency of strains of Pseudomonas, Candida tropicalis, Trichosporon cutaneum, etc. The unique ability of fungi to maintain their degradation potential under conditions unfavorable for other microorganisms is outstanding. Mathematical models of the microbial biodegradation dynamics of single and mixed aromatic compounds, which direct to the benefit of the processes studied in optimization of modern environmental biotechnology are also presented.     

Antibiotic susceptibility profiles of some <Emphasis Type="Italic">Vibrio</Emphasis> strains isolated from wastewater final effluents in a rural community of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa

Background  

To evaluate the antibiogram and antibiotic resistance genes of some Vibrio strains isolated from wastewater final effluents in a rural community of South Africa. V. vulnificus (18), V. metschnikovii (3), V. fluvialis (19) and V. parahaemolyticus (12) strains were isolated from final effluents of a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) located in a rural community of South Africa. The disk diffusion method was used for the characterization of the antibiogram of the isolates. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was employed to evaluate the presence of established antibiotic resistance genes using specific primer sets.     

Effects of Oil Refinery Effluents on Selenastrum capricornutum PRINTZ

Laboratory-based bioassay experiments using Selenastrum capricornutum PRINTZ as the test organism were conducted to evaluate the potentiality of refinery effluents to sustain algal growth. The raw effluents were remarkably toxic to the test alga, but satisfactory algal growth occurred in (diluted) 0.01 % effluents. The effluents from subsequent treatment stages required much less dilution to eliminate the toxicity. This study implicates oil and phenol in the reduction of algal growth in refinery effluents. A highly significant negative correlation was found between the final yield of the test alga and the concentration of oil or phenol in the culture suspension. The bioassay experiments therefore point to the toxic nature of refinery effluents. On the basis of these findings it is recommended that proper dilution of refinery effluents is necessary before they are discharged into any body of water.     

Investigation of the sublethal effects of some petroleum refinery effluents

In Canada, environmental regulations for protection of the biota from the adverse effects of effluents from petroleum refineries have tended to focus on acute toxicity. There is concern those effluents may have other subtle, but still deleterious, long-term effects on aquatic ecosystems. We have used a battery of toxicity tests to assess the acute toxicity, genotoxicity, and chronic toxicity of effluent samples from two Ontario refineries. The test organisms included representatives of the bacterial, algal, plant, cladoceran, and fish communities. The results of our preliminary study indicate that the effluent samples had little acute toxicity to the test organisms. There were indications of some sublethal toxicity to Ceriodaphnia dubia, Panagrellus redivivus, and Pimephales promelas. One of the effluents inhibited the growth of Selanastrum capricornutum (IC₅₀ of 59.9%) and Lemna gibba (IC₂₅ of 73.3%) and also caused a 15 percent reduction in the germination of Lactuca sativa seeds. The SOS-Chromotest, a commercially available test that measures the activity of a bacterial DNA repair system, detected genotoxic effects in a single effluent that had been concentrated ten fold. There was no apparent relationship between several chemical parameters and the observed sublethal effects. Further research is needed to establish whether or not the observed toxic effects are typical of effluents from Ontario refineries.     

Decolorization of practical textile industry effluents by white rot fungus Coriolus versicolor IBL-04

Textile industry discharges a vast amount of unused synthetic dyes in effluents. The discharge of these effluents into rivers and lakes leads to a reduction in sunlight penetration in natural water bodies, which, in turn, decreases both photosynthetic activity and dissolved oxygen concentration rendering it toxic to living beings. This paper describes the decolorization potential of a local white rot fungus, Coriolus versicolor IBL-04 for practical industrial effluents collected from five different textile industries of Faisalabad, Pakistan. Screening of C. versicolor IBL-04 on five effluents showed best decolorization results (36.3%) for Arzoo Textile Industry (ART) effluent in 6 days followed by Crescent Textile Industry (CRT), Itmad Textile Industry (ITT), Megna Textile Industry (MGT) and Ayesha Textile Industry (AST) effluents. Optimization of different process parameters for ART effluent decolorization by C. versicolor IBL-04 showed that manganese peroxidase (MnP) (486 U/mL) was the lignolytic enzyme present in the culture filtrates with undetectable lignin peroxidase (LiP) and laccase. The MnP synthesis and effluent decolorization could be enhanced to 725 U/mL and 84.4%, respectively, with a significant time reduction to 3 days by optimizing pH and temperature and using 1% starch as a supplementary carbon source.     

In vitro genotoxic evaluation of conventional bleached and biobleached softwood pulp mill effluents

The effluents of pulp and paper mills contain about 300 different chemical compounds; many of them are mutagens and clastogens. Genotoxic studies have shown that chlorination stage liquors are significantly more genotoxic, in the Ames Salmonella assay, than the other process of lignin extraction, and that lyophilized effluents are genotoxic in cultured mammalian cells. Since these effluents from conventional bleaching stages are genotoxic, Chilean industries are interested in changing this process to a less toxic one, such as biobleaching using enzymes. In this study, we tested the in vitro genotoxicity of two types of effluents: an effluent obtained from a conventional radiata pine kraft-bleaching process (effluent D) and one derived from a biobleaching process with hemicellulase (effluent B). Both effluents were tested without any concentration or purification steps in the Ames Salmonella assay (TA100) and in the micronuclei (MN) and sister chromatid exchange (SCE) tests in CHO cells. The results showed that neither effluent induced base pair substitution mutations in the Ames Salmonella assay, and neither increased the micronucleus frequency in CHO cells. But, both increased the SCE frequencies in CHO cells, showing that this assay is more sensitive than the other ones, and that the two effluents contained chemical compounds in amounts enough to induce in vitro genotoxicity measured by the SCE induction.     

Growth of Spirulina maxima algae in effluents from secondary waste-water treatment plants

Spirulina maxima, a high protein alga, was grown in effluents from the London municipal waste treatment plant. Optimum growth conditions were developed, the composition of algae and the removal of nitrogen and phosphorus in effluents were studied. The advantages of this process in tertiary waste-water treatment and the quality of the single cell protein were investigated.     

Biodegradation and detoxification of dyes and industrial effluents by Ganoderma weberianum B-18 immobilized in a lab-scale packed-bed bioreactor

White-rot fungi are considered to be promising biotechnological tools to complement or replace the current technologies for the treatment of effluents from textile production plants. The aim of this work was to investigate the decolorization capacity of Ganoderma weberianum B-18 in solid state fermentation with sugarcane bagasse as a substrate and ligninolytic inducer as well as to decolorize and detoxify industrial effluents by this strain in a laboratory scale packed-bed bio-reactor. The results demonstrated that G. weberianum B-18 indeed showed to possess decolorization capacity in solid state fermentation with sugarcane bagasse supplemented with synthetic dyes. Moreover, fungal biomass of G. weberianum B-18 immobilized in sugarcane bagasse in a packed-bed bioreactor was shown to efficiently decolorize and detoxify different dyes and authentic industrial effluents in semi-continuous conditions. In this decolorization process, laccase enzymes secreted by the fungus played the main role. Hence, a packed-bed reactor with G. weberianum B-18 immobilized in sugarcane bagasse seems to be a suitable system for the further development of an efficient bioprocess for large-scale treatment of dye-containing wastewaters.     

Dechlorination of high-molecular-mass compounds in spent sulphite bleach effluents by free and immobilized cells of streptomycetes

Streptomyces chromofuscus and S. rochei dechlorinated high-molecular-mass compounds (HMM) from industrial bleach effluents. Compounds of the effluents from the first chlorination [(C + D)_red] and the subsequent alkaline extraction stage (E₁O) of a sulphite cellulose pulp mill were used as substrates for the microbial transformations. HMM bleach effluent fractions obtained by ultrafiltration were treated by free and immobilized cells in two types of bioreactors. The dechlorination was followed by measuring the reduction of activated-carbon-adsorbable organic-bound halogen (AOX) and the release of inorganic chloride. While 38–45% of the organic bound chlorine was released from a mixture of (C + D)_red and E₁O stage effluents within 20 days of incubation with S. chromofuscus, only 11–16% were liberated from E₁O-stage HMM bleach-effluent compounds by S. chromofuscus and S. rochei. Immobilized cells of both strains remained active for over 100 days in successive batches, each releasing 12–24% of chloride from HMM bleach-effluent compounds.     

Water treatment of land-based fish farm effluents by outdoor culture of marine diatoms

The feasibility of using fish farm effluents was evaluated as a source of inorganic nutrients for mass production of marine diatoms. Batch cultures were conducted from May to July 1995 in 16-L outdoor rectangular tanks, homogenized by gentle aeration (0.2 L _air L^–1 h^–1). The effluents from the two fish farms studied were both characterized by high concentrations of inorganic materials (NH₄-N, PO₄-;P, Si(OH)₄-Si) and were shown to support production of marine diatoms. Moreover, periodic measurements of inorganic matter levels in the cultures showed that clearance was efficacious (90% in 3–5 days). Water purification efficiency and culture productivity were further increased through appropriate nutrient balancing. When effluents were limited in silicate, addition of Na₂SiO₃ induced a significant increase in both diatom biomass and nutrient removal efficiency. In this case, up to 720 000 cell mL^–1 were produced dominated bySkeletonema costatum. By contrast, in effluents loaded with silicate, adjustment of the N:P:Si ratio by NH₄-N and PO₄-P supplementation then gave increased biomass production. In this case, the maximum cell density found was 450 000 cell mL^–1, dominated byChaetoceros spp.Author for correspondence     

Growth characteristics of a sewer slime

Abundant growth of a sewer slime consisting mainly of Zoogloea filipendula and Rhodotorula glutinis occurred in sewers, manholes, and a pumping station where the sewage contained cyclohexane derivatives from industrial processes. The organisms were shown in the laboratory to metabolise cyclohexane derivatives as the sole source of carbon. It is suggested that the function of the copious extracellular polysaccharide slime produced was to absorb and concentrate these compounds from the atmosphere. The growth characteristics and methods of controlling slime growth are described. The investigation has again directed attention to the importance of organic vapours from trade effluents in promoting the production of slimes.     

In vivo31P and 13C NMR investigations of Rhodococcus rhodochrous metabolism and behaviour during biotransformation processes

Aims: The strain Rhodococcus rhodochrous OBT18 was isolated from a water treatment plant used to decontaminate industrial effluents containing benzothiazole derivatives. Aims of the work are to study the central metabolism of this strain and more specifically its behaviour during biodegradation of 2‐aminobenzothiazole. Methods and Results: In vivo ¹³C and ³¹P NMR experiments showed that this strain contains storage compounds such as polyphosphates, glycogen and trehalose and produces biosurfactants containing trehalose as sugar unit. Trehalose can be synthesized after reversion of the glycolytic pathway. In vivo³¹P NMR experiments showed that energy metabolism markers such as the intracellular pH and the ATP concentration did not change during biotransformation processes when R. rhodochrous was exposed to potentially toxic compounds including iron complexes and ^? OH radicals. Also R. rhodochrous recovers the normal values of ATP and pH after anoxia/reoxygenation cycle very quickly. Conclusions: Rhodococcus rhodochrous carbon and energy metabolism is well adapted to different stresses and consequently to live in the environment where conditions are constantly changing. Significance and Impact of the Study: The results of this study can be used to understand the behaviour of this bacterium in natural environments but also in water treatment plants where iron and UV light are present.