Viability of phenanthrene biodegradation by an isolated bacterial consortium: optimization and scale-up

In the present work, biodegradation of phenanthrene by a bacterial consortium (LB2), isolated from lab-polluted soils has been investigated. The 16S rRNA gene-based molecular analysis revealed that the bacterial consortium LB2 consisted of two strains showing a very high homology with Staphylococcus warneri and Bacillus pumilus. The optimization of phenanthrene degradation by the consortium LB2, using a central composite face-centered design was carried out taking into account three important parameters such as temperature, pH, and phenanthrene concentration. Near complete phenanthrene degradation was reached by consortium LB2 at the optimal conditions (pH of 7.5 and 37.5 °C) in less than 48 h. Moreover, the efficiency of phenanthrene biodegradation was assessed by using logistic and Luedeking and Piret-type models. Finally, the process was implemented at bench-scale bioreactor and the main degradation routes were identified based on GC-MS data.